


Into Your World

by forgotten_dreams



Category: Naruto
Genre: Drama, F/M, One Night Stands, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:21:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25369777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgotten_dreams/pseuds/forgotten_dreams
Summary: In a world where money is expendable and everyone is watching your every move, Minato is struggling with maintaining his CEO position at one of the biggest tech companies in Japan. His only hope is to hire an assistant from an opposing company, but he already screwed that up too, by sleeping with her the night of her best friend’s wedding.
Relationships: Namikaze Minato & Original Character(s), Namikaze Minato/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

“Do you have to get married so early?” 

Yoshino looked up at her friend who laid stretched out on the couch next to her. Ayane was scrolling through her phone absentmindedly as she spoke, ignoring the mess of crafting supplies scattered across their carpet.

“It seems like a lot of work to me,” she added.

With a light chuckle, Yoshino finished up one of the centerpieces and grabbed a flower to start the next. 

“It is a lot of work,” Yoshino admitted, “but it’s been something Shikaku and I have been looking forward to.”

“We’re still kind of young to be tied down, don’t you think?” In reality, Ayane was sick and tired of seeing everyone around her getting engaged and married, though she supposed that was bound to happen now that all her peers were in their mid to late 20s.

“You just need to get yourself a new boo.” Yoshino replied, throwing a spare flower at her friend who caught it in the air. “You’ve been all grumpy since your break up. I think it’s time you move on.”

Ayane knew her friend was right. Not that she needed to find herself another man, but that her life had been turned upside down since then. She had quit her job because her ex was working in the same company, and that resulted in her just moping around in their shared house. Now that her best friend was soon to be married and moving out, she decided to get her butt into gear if she wanted to keep living in the uptown neighbourhood she had grown to love.

“And you need to get some rest.” Ayane scolded as she got up from the couch and stretched. “Your wedding is tomorrow. Just let me finish this up so you can get some sleep.”

“I’m almost done. We both know I won’t be able to sleep tonight anyways.” Yoshino giggled. “Oh, and you’re horrible at arts and crafts. Of your many strengths, Ayane, this is definitely not one of them.”

With a light laugh, Ayane agreed. Despite her tiny frame and innocent looks, she had never been one to be graceful and delicate, nor was she one to have patience for the arts. 

“Well, I’m going to go to bed then.” Ayane yawned. “It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

As she turned to walk toward her bedroom, her friend called her back. “Ayane.”

“Hm?”

“Thank you for helping me plan this wedding. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.” 

With a light friendly smile, the petite girl waved off her friend. “I manage and organize things for a living. Your little wedding is the least of my worries.”

Yoshino shook her head in disbelief. Her wedding was anything but little. Her fiance was a high up executivet in Japan’s largest security company and many, many details needed to be arranged for their hundreds of guests. Not to mention, the press would be present as well. She understood her friend though, in that Ayane was always modest about her work and contributions. It was something she truly loved about her.

“Still though, thank you. I know you didn’t want to go to the wedding tomorrow but I’m glad you’ll be there.”

“You’re right. I don’t like going to weddings, but it’s yours.” Ayane smiled softly at the best friend that she had grown up with for all her life. “How can I not be there?”

With one more final wave, Ayane made her way down the hall. “Goodnight! Try to get some rest!”

\---

Ayane hated going to weddings. She truly, from the bottom of her heart, hated going to weddings. She never understood the need to stand in front of the crowd, especially in crowds of many people you have barely met before, to proclaim your love publicly. While small, intimate weddings were fine, the ones in her world were huge, extravagant, and very superficial.

If it weren’t for the fact that she was the wedding planner, part of the bridal party, and roommates with the bride, she wouldn’t have gone. At least the worst of it was over. The ceremony had gone by without a hitch despite the heavy media presence, and now, she was busy zoning out as the customary father-daughter dance took place.

She took a glance at the other three bridesmaids at the table. Yoshino’s older sister and maid of honour Yuka, was by far the only tolerable one of the bunch as she sat in her seat, tearing up at the sight of her baby sister getting married. The other two were busy giggling to themselves as they stared across from them at the groomsmen on the other side.

Ayane rolled her eyes. Sure, all of the men at Shikaku’s table were young, and terrifyingly well off, but none of them were appealing in Ayane’s eyes. Well...except one.

She froze as she made eye contact with the ocean blue eyes of a very familiar businessman. Minato Namikaze was well known to anyone in the business world, and was even on celebrity gossip magazines. The man was only 30 and just recently had acquired a majority share of Uzumaki Technology Corporation, one of the most popular cyber security companies in all of Japan. Shikaku, the groom, held a high position in the company, so many of the other executives were present.

Ayane found Minato particularly alluring, and she felt herself getting drawn into the blue eyes. The blonde haired man seemed to be oblivious of this though as he smiled softly and looked away. Ayane wondered if the dusted pink on his cheeks were from the plethora of champagne they had already consumed or if it was something else…

Chugging the remainder of her own champagne flute, Ayane applauded with the crowd as the dance came to an end. A sigh of relief escaped her when she realized all that was left was the cake cutting and a thank you speech, and then she could disappear from the front of the room once the party started. Her plan? To hit the bar, and then retire for the night up in her hotel suite which was attached to the venue.

It was almost 11:00pm when the DJ began blasting music and a crowd rushed to the front. Yoshino came to pull her bridesmaids out to the dance floor, but allowed Ayane to escape, knowing fully well that the petite girl was not going to dance. 

Once the crowd had grown large enough, Ayane stood from her seat and began making her way to the bar. She cursed as she stumbled on her floor length dress after having snagged it on her high heels as she got up. Due to her shorter stature, she always hated wearing full length dresses and today was no exception as she ungracefully picked up the end in one hand and lifted it so that at least her shins and ankles were free.

She walked to the back of the room where the quieter of the two open bars were and took a seat on a bar stool away from anyone else.

“What can I get for you?” the young bartender asked. He looked awfully happy to be working for such a large and busy party, but with one glance at the tip jar in the corner, Ayane could see why.

“A vodka cranberry with a lime wedge please.” 

She watched as he picked up a bottle of Grey Goose and poured a generous amount into a glass. As the boy finished up her drink she wondered how much Shikaku made that he could afford not just the most expensive open bar drink package, but also the large venue for hundreds of guests. She, as the wedding planner, knew every detail of the costs of the wedding, but still, it surprised her that the man could afford it all.

As she sipped her drink, Ayane scanned the room for any signs of familiar faces. Some, she recognized because they were highschool or college peers of Yoshino. Others, she only knew because she had researched the heads of Uzumaki Tech as part of her previous job. The difference was apparent between the two crowds as the Vice Presidents dressed in a league that was far beyond what anyone from their hometown highschool or college peers could afford.

Ayane rolled her eyes and scoffed at the pretentious fools, many of which were socializing in their own little cliques in the corner of the room, sipping their expensive wine. As she turned back to her drink, she caught a glimpse of a familiar head of blonde hair sliding onto the stool next to her. 

“What can I get for you sir?” The bartender was glancing at the already outstretched $20 bill as he asked. 

“Johnnie Walker Blue. Make it a double please.” The man replied as he slipped the tip into the jar.

“On the rocks?”

“No. Just straight will be fine.” With a nod, the young man set to work, grabbing the expensive bottle off the rack. Ayane eyed it with disgust and wondered how many of the bottles they had gone through already that night.

“Looks like I’m not the only one wanting to get away from the party.” Ayane froze when she heard the soft voice being directed at her. From one single sentence, she was already able to decipher many things about the man next to her.

For one, he too, was not a people person despite the need in their world to network and make connections. The tone of his voice also told Ayane that he worked in a laid back manner, was a people pleaser, and was very gentle and nice. In their line of business, that would have been called a pushover. She figured he must have relied on his knowledge, his staff, and his good looks to be able to even reach his status as CEO.

Still though, she couldn’t help but feel attracted to the gaze of his very blue eyes who stared intently at her despite the fact that they hadn’t formally met yet.

“You’re right. I didn’t really want to come to begin with.” She replied as she chugged the rest of her drink. Immediately, she signalled to the young man to get her another one. She knew she would need it if she wanted to continue the conversation with confidence.

“Why is that?” Minato’s eyes seemed genuinely curious, like he actually cared about this mere stranger in front of him. Ayane instantly shook the thought out of her head. She reminded herself that he was simply a nice guy.

“Mr. Namikaze…”

“Call me Minato,” he interrupted.

“...it’s a touchy subject,” she finished. Her drink arrived and she downed it again. Minato gave her a questioning look and finished his drink too. He motioned for the bartender for another glass each and this time, he dropped a 50 in the jar.

“Sorry,” his apology seemed wholehearted. “I was just curious, I didn’t mean to pry. I too, didn’t want to come.”

“Really? Why?” Ayane let slip without hesitation. She bit her lip in nervousness when she realized she was doing the same thing he just did.

He winked, “it’s a touchy subject.” Chuckling at the girl’s disappointed expression, he continued instead. “I had to come though, it’s my best friend’s wedding. Besides, it’s a good way to take my mind off of things.”

Ayane had heard of some things on the news, but she disregarded them because the tech business world wasn’t her world anymore after she had quit. She stared at the grinning man and was wondering if what she heard was true. Perhaps that’s why he needed to get his mind off as well.

“Yeah...that’s what Yoshino told me to do. To come and take my mind off of things.” 

“Well,” he raised his new glass and nodded to hers. “We can help each other with that. Cheers.”

With a small grin on her face, Ayane brought her glass up to clink against his. Her head was already spinning after many flutes of champagne throughout the night and her two vodka cranberries. She wanted to remind herself to stay level headed and slowly drink her next one, but Minato was right, maybe tonight was the night to get her mind emptied of her shitty ex, her lost job, and the pretentious wedding she was forced to attend.

Besides, if she ignored the status and wealth of the man in front of her, she would have loved to spend a night with him on any regular day. So pushing her doubts aside, she decided to lose herself in drinks and conversations with the handsome stranger across from her.

\---

Things don’t always go as planned though and as they talked, they began flirting while still keeping each other at arm’s distance. Flirting became light, sensitive touches. And then, touches became kisses which turned into a hot makeout session with Ayane leaning against Minato at the bar. Through heavy breathing and intense eye contact, they decided it was about time to head to a more private venue before things got too out of hand with many pairs of eyes watching them.

The bridal party had rooms booked out for them for the night, knowing that more likely than not, drinks would have been had and possibly even an after party might have taken place. Minato, being the CEO that he was, and the best friend and boss of the groom, of course had one of the top suites in the hotel to himself. 

Ayane barely took notice of the modern and spacious interior, and she had lost count of how many rooms she had passed before they made it to the bedroom. When she did become more aware, she was being thrown onto the large king size mattress. 

Minato quickly made do of his suit jacket, pants, and shoes, before climbing on top of the petite girl. With a wide grin, Ayane pulled him down so that she could meet his lips hungrily. Her fingers threaded their way into his long blonde hair as his roamed up her long dress, pushing the abundance of fabric aside to try to reach the goods. 

With an annoyed groan, she placed a hand on Minato’s chest and pushed him so that she could sit up. He looked at her with concern, wondering even in his drunken haze, if he had gone too far. To his delight, Ayane reached behind her and undid the clasp before pulling the zipper down as far as she could get it.

“I hate this stupid dress.” She complained as she struggled to get out of it.

WIth a light chuckle, Minato shuffled his way around her body so that he was sitting behind her. “It looks good on you though,” he commented as he took hold of the zipper.

It was almost painful how slowly he pulled the metal piece down. Ayane could feel his breath against her hot skin, making her shiver at the proximity. After the zipper was down the whole way, his hands went up to the two straps sitting on her delicate shoulders before lightly pulling them off on either side.

He leaned forward, pressing his lips gently against her neck in a way that was completely contrasting to the heated moment they were sharing before. Ayane groaned as Minato gave her a quick bite on the corner of her shoulder and neck. His lips travelled upward toward her ear lobe, and she could feel it brushing against her skin as he spoke. 

“Although you look absolutely beautiful without it on.” 

The drunkenness in Ayane’s mind didn’t stop her from wondering if Minato treated every woman he slept with like this: like the most important person in the world. She figured with the status that he had, he probably had been with many women and could be with any woman that he wanted. So in order to protect her own heart from his soothing gestures, she decided to ignite the lust filled passion again by quickly slipping out of her dress and mounting his lap on either side.

Minato was taken aback by the sudden burst of excitement from the woman, but he didn’t mind. In fact, he met her actions eagerly as he grinded his hips against her core.

When the CEO began to reciprocate her actions, Ayane almost let out a breath of relief. She convinced herself that this was the way to go. Afterall, she wouldn’t want to leave tonight with any regrets or baggage. A relationship was too much. She was just here to have fun with a good looking man.

“Fuck me.” She pleaded against his lips after she couldn’t take the slow contact anymore. Her thong was dripping wet by now and all she wanted to do was rid of it and his boxer briefs.

When he finally stopped his grinding to allow them to strip the rest of their clothes, Ayane couldn’t help but relish in the beauty of the man under her. She got on top of him again, this time, making sure to align his parts with hers.

A loud moan escaped both of them as she sat down and he buried himself deep inside of her. Her body craved him immediately. She loved the way he fit inside of her, and the way her body felt in his arms. She loved the way his strong hands felt as it held onto her hips, guiding it up and down as she bounced on his lap. 

“Fuck baby, you feel so good.”

“M-Mr. Namikaze.”

MInato leaned forward and placed another bite on her shoulder, making her scream in ecstasy as he gave pointed thrusts into her body. “I told you to call me Minato.”

“M-MInato….”

She loved the way his name rolled off her tongue. She loved calling out to him and hearing him grunt in return. She must have been crazy drunk, she figured, or sex deprived, if she was loving every way in which he held her, but regardless, she decided to enjoy it while the night lasted.

Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was how handsome he was to begin with. Maybe it was the taboo idea of a one night stand, that she finally got to take part of, but within minutes, Minato had her cumming hard on top of him. She shook as a wave of ecstasy rolled through her and she clung onto the man for dear life. 

When the high had finally calmed to a gentle breeze, Ayane collapsed onto Minato, allowing his body to support her. With a chuckle he brushed her hair out of her face. He only allowed her a brief break before he rolled her over.

Ayane yelped when her back hit the bed again, this time, it made her a bit dizzy with the liquor and the orgasm. Minato leaned over and reinserted himself into the sensitive warmth. She cried out as she grasped onto him in desperation. With a low chuckle, he continued.

“I’m still not done yet.” 

Breaking out of her trance, Ayane smirked. “Good, me neither.”

With that, they spent the rest of the night in each other’s presence, filling the room with the aroma of sweat and sex. Eventually, as exhaustion came over them and the alcohol took its toll, they both collapsed onto the mattress and fell asleep-their troubles gone for the night.


	2. Chapter 2

When Minato got to work on Monday, his mind was a mess. The weekend was a beautifully dangerous distraction, especially after having spent the night with what his teenage self would have dubbed “the woman of his dreams.” But now, with any good distraction, came a list of responsibilities and consequences that had his mind reeling.

The first thing was, he wasn’t sure if anyone had seen his drunken self leave the wedding venue in favour of a hotel room after having a heavy makeout session with the girl at the bar. His worst nightmare would be to have his face plastered all over the media because of one night of fun at a friend’s wedding.

That brought him back to his second source of headache. His personal assistant who also doubled as his public relations manager had quit on him two weeks prior because of the pressure of all the rumours going on about him. This affected his sales in a way that they might not even break even for the quarter. He groaned and made a note to contact the sales department so they could continue speaking. 

Due to his busy schedule, he didn’t have enough time to hire another personal assistant. That was first on his list today amongst the many other things he had to get done business wise.

Pulling up a folder on his laptop of all the resumes and applications, Minato sighed. There were only about ten applicants for the job, mainly because it was such a last minute posting and the job description was not only tedious, but difficult as well.

Shifting through, he immediately was able to decline a few of the people based on their lack of experience. It was toward the end, that he saw a familiar name on the file. Ayane Higashi. He could feel his heartbeat quicken as a hazy image of her naked body flooded his mind. Shaking the image out of his head, his cursor gravitated toward the delete button when another name caught his attention.

Akatsuki Security Incorporation. With his interest peaking, he carefully scrolled through the rest of the resume and fell back in his chair in awe. In a mere three years, starting from when she was only 22, Ayane was able to climb from being a regular sales associate to becoming head secretary to the CFO of the biggest technology company in the country after them.

He remembered the way the petite girl spoke with poise, and the way she was able to manage the wedding throughout the entire day without breaking a sweat. A million questions flooded his mind as he considered her experience. How did she climb the ladder so quickly? How much did she know about him at the party? Why would she apply for the rival company? And most importantly, what made her lose her job to begin with? He could only imagine she was paid really well and at her young age, she had a bright future ahead of her in that company.

Despite his logical mind telling him to avoid the drama of hiring a one night stand, he had to admit that of all applications, hers was the most appealing to him. So with a hesitant click, he sent out an invitation to an interview to her and four others.

\---

To go or not to go, that was the question. Ayane paced back and forth in her now half empty house, often taking quick glances at her phone as if the email would just disappear at any moment.

She did it, she landed a job interview. It was probably for the best, and most well paid position of the batch that she had applied for. The only issue was, she hadn’t anticipated sleeping with the CEO of said company before her interview. She had hoped, on a final whim, that the interview would be with a human resources representative, or at least another manager, but judging by the name at the bottom of the email, she had a strong inkling that it would be him.

Him. Minato Namikaze. CEO of Uzumaki Tech, the man that she had slept with, and the one she had left without a word the next morning. 

She had been debating the entire day since she received the offer in the morning, but she couldn’t come to a conclusion. 

It was hard to let go of an opportunity like this. For one, it was in her field of interest and expertise. Not to mention, she knew with utmost confidence, that her experience would allow her to obtain the job if not for her situation with the blonde boss. Lastly, she needed the job if she wanted to continue living in the middle to upscale neighbourhood that she was in, especially now that she was the only one paying for the rent. 

With a frustrated sigh, she collapsed on her bed and decided that she would go the next day. She would go in, with her head held high, and get herself that job. The only negotiating factor she had though, was that if Mr. Namikaze himself was interviewing that day, she gave herself permission to run, far, far, away.

\---

Ayane arrived early the next morning, dressed in her usual office attire: a white long sleeve blouse, a red pencil skirt, and a pair of nude heels that made her legs look miles longer. She was confident, no doubt, in the way that she dressed and presented herself because it was something she was used to. The high stilettos only made her tiny figure more intimidating.

“Good morning,” she called to the receptionist who greeted her with a wide grin. “I’m here for a job interview, my name is Ayane Higashi.” 

“Oh yes! I was told you would be coming. I think the interview before yours should just be wrapping up, so if you could just follow me, I can bring you to the room your interview will be held in.” The brunette receptionist stood from her seat and led Ayane to the elevators in the middle of the building. 

Ayane couldn’t help to stare in awe at the infrastructure. Sure her previous company was mighty popular and just as successful as this one, but it was older, meaning the building was still an ugly concrete pour in the older side of downtown. 

Uzumaki Tech’s architecture was composed almost entirely of glass including the elevator shaft. As they rode the elevator up, Ayane was able to see through the different areas and spaces. It was almost if each floor was decorated and arranged to their own individual needs. 

Though the building was still futuristic, large amounts of plants were everywhere, keeping the zones calm and fresh. It was almost like having a park within the building.

Due to the way she was distracted by the decor of the place, Ayane had missed that the receptionist had pressed the highest floor on the touch screen elevator panel. When she finally noticed the destination, dread immediately filled her stomach. The top floors of corporate buildings were almost always reserved exclusively for higher status individuals such as the CEO, CFO, or Board of Directors.

She held her breath as the door dinged open and she was greeted by a secretary at the front. 

“Oh! Right on time. You must be Ms. Higashi,” the young girl with short brown hair said. Ayane could tell she was only a few years younger than her, but had guessed she was fresh out of college. “Mr. Namikaze was just finished with his previous interview. Let me call him and ask if he’s ready for you.”

Ayane’s breath hitched at the sound of the familiar name. She wanted to puke right then and there. When Minato’s voice called her in from the other side of the intercom, she even took one last look at the departing elevator, repeating in her mind to run. There was no point anyways, she knew she wasn’t going to get the job, not after what they had done only days ago.

The young secretary led her through the short hallway before encountering a large office with glass walls and only a door to provide some sort of privacy. Even from behind the door, Ayane could see the familiar blonde hair and blue eyes which were fixed on the monitor on the table. Minato’s eyebrows were furrowed as he concentrated on the screen, only to break away when the secretary knocked on his door.

“Come in.” 

As Ayane stepped into the office, she barely had time to take in the exquisite decor including the large L-shaped desk in the corner, and the white leather couch along the side wall. Minato stood and approached her with his usual kind smile and an outstretched hand. She knew, from the recognition on his face, that her chances of landing the job, were official fucked.

“Good morning, Ayane,” he greeted as if they hadn’t just fucked each other senseless a few nights prior.

With a soft chuckle, she replied. “Good morning Mr. Namikaze. It’s nice to meet you.”

His knowing smile turned into a smirk at the pretense. Minato turned to the short haired girl and thanked her quietly before the secretary dismissed herself and the door shut behind her. 

“Please, take a seat.” Minato gestured to the chair in front of his desk before he went around to his own, very CEO-esque leather chair.

“Mr. Namikaze...I know this is awkward for both of us...I’ll just…”

“No please, take a seat,” he repeated. “You came all the way here anyways. Besides, I took a look at your resume and I believe there is potential.”

Ayane scanned the man’s earnest eyes for a few moments before she approached the chair and took her seat. Shifting uncomfortably for the first time in her office attire, she crossed her legs and tugged at her pencil skirt even though the skirt itself hit just above knee level.

“So um...I guess we’ll start.” The tone in the man’s voice reminded Ayane that this was just as awkward for him as it was for her. “Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?”

“Well, my name is Ayane Higashi. I’m 25 years old, and I majored in Business - Management.” She could tell by the slight frown on Minato’s face that her answer left him unsatisfied, as pretty much all of her basic information he already knew from her resume. She wondered if the man expected more.

“Okay…” Ayane provided so little information that Minato didn’t have anything to write in his notes so he decided to move on. “I see you’ve worked for Akatsuki Inc. Apart from your experience there, are there any other skills that could help you succeed in your work here as a personal assistant?”

“Well one of my biggest assets is my ability to manage time and organize well. I had to do this, not only in my previous job, but I was also responsible for organizing my friend’s wedding of a couple hundred guests.” Ayane could see a small smile appearing on Minato’s face at the mention of the weekend.

“For that event, I had to make arrangements with media stations and paparazzi because the groom was a high ranking manager in one of the biggest companies in Asia. I believe my relationship and experience in handling the media will also help me perform my duties as a public relations manager as well.” 

Minato looked beyond pleased as he typed away on his computer. Ayane could see why, afterall, as she had suspected before, she was almost overqualified for the job. The only problem came with the fact that she had ditched him after sleeping with him just this past weekend. She doubted he wanted someone of such character to work so closely with him.

“This job may require you to work overtime or even on weekends depending on the needs of the business. Of course, you would be paid accordingly. What other commitments would you have in addition to work?” Minato read off the screen after he finished typing.

“There’s not much,” Ayane replied. Afterall, ever since she had begun working, she had been indulged heavily in her job. It was partially how she got where she was today. “My parents do live out in the countryside so I would like to have some time off from time to time to visit them.”

“Of course we can arrange that.” Minato replied. 

As the interview went on, Minato remained professional with his questions. His soft gaze made Ayane feel a little bit more at ease with the entire situation. At one point, she thought maybe she did have a chance after all. Maybe the weekend they had was in the past, and he saw her experience as a valuable asset to his company.

The interview lasted for about fifteen minutes before Minato finished typing and turned away from his computer. 

“One last question.” Suddenly his friendly smile was gone and the aura changed to something of a more serious demeanor. Ayane recognized the flicker in his eyes from the night of the wedding, and she could tell they were no longer talking about the job.

“Why did you leave that morning?”

Ayane’s confidence was gone as she nervously scanned the blue eyes in front of her. He leaned forward with his fingers crossed and forearms resting on the desk. The sudden movement caused Ayane to flinch backward into her chair.

It took her a while to compose herself under his intense gaze, but eventually, she knew that the interview was over and she had lost the job based on his last question. Saving what was left of her pride, she straightened herself and cleared her throat.

“Mr. Namikaze, I suggest that we keep this about business. Now if there’s nothing left, I’ll be heading out now. Thank you for your time.”

Without leaving room for further conversation, she stood abruptly and walked toward the door. Her hand barely paused on the handle for a second before she pulled it open and walked out.


	3. Chapter 3

It was several days since the job interview and Ayane had yet to receive a call or email back about her job application.Though it was a hit to her pride at first, she had moved on, afterall, she had already expected it to happen after she walked out on Minato again.

With the way he looked at her during his final question, she figured it was only right that they left things the way they were. She didn’t want to give him the wrong message that working for him meant that they could be anything more than strangers who had once fucked. It seemed that he understood, since he never bothered to contact her after she left. 

It was a Friday, and Ayane had decided to clean up the house and reorganize Yoshino’s old room into a guest room. Pulling up her hair into a high ponytail, she blasted her music through her built in speaker system in the house. 

She spent hours that day cleaning, vacuuming, and reorganizing her possessions into some of the now empty cabinets and drawers. Yoshino had left behind her bed so she went ahead and grabbed some old bedsheets to dress it.

It wasn’t until late in the afternoon that she finally stopped to make herself some lunch and check her phone. She froze when she saw two new emails in her inbox. The first, an invitation to an interview at an accounting firm - something she had applied to on a whim and would have truly been bored to death working in.

The second, was from the Human Resources Department of Uzumaki Tech. Her eyes scanned the writing quickly, and she felt her breath leave her when she realized she had been offered the position. Attached, was a contract, and confidentiality agreement.

Ayane set her phone down and sat back in her chair. The shock was very slowly leaving her as she tried to process how on Earth the job was hers. Sure, she had experience, but she had slept with the boss and left him after their one night stand. In addition, she was unexplainably rude to him at the end of their last meeting. She thought she had ruined her last chance for good.

Now that the job was hers to take, she was hesitant to take it. She felt an overwhelming sense of self-confidence because it only proved that she was good at what she did and even Minato Namikaze acknowledged that in her, but alas, she wondered if she was being hired for the right reasons. Did he see potential in her? Or was he just looking for an office fuck?

She remembered the way Minato had approached her at the wedding with clear intentions to flirt and get together with her. She had accepted it then, because she too was in need of some company, and she knew she could break it off the next day.

It didn’t end there though, she remembered the way that Minato met her gaze knowingly and smirked at her when they met in his office, along with the disappointment on his face when she didn’t provide more personal information and interests about herself. 

It was clear that the CEO had some kind of attraction to Ayane and an interest in her that was beyond a co-worker status. She didn’t want it though. In fact, she swore to herself she would never do an office romance again after having her world turned upside down by her last one. Minato Namikaze was one hell of a good looking man, which was all the more reason that she had to call it quits now before she truly fell for him. 

Grabbing her phone again, she hit reply and drafted an email thanking them for their time, and kindly declining the offer. It broke her heart to do it, as the job was perfect for her, but alas, she couldn’t bring herself to work so close with the man.

Once the email was confirmed sent, she got up and dumped her plate in the sink, prepared to get back to work cleaning. The chores didn’t serve much of a distraction from her thoughts though, as she began to regret ever having slept with the man that night. 

\---

At the end of the night, Ayane fell on her bed with a satisfied grin on her face even though exhaustion overcame her. It had been a long day, but finally, after many hours, her house finally felt like her dream home. Although she had a few more things to buy, the fulfillment of having her place done, made it feel like at least part of her life was returning back to normal.

That was, until she checked her phone and her world came to a halt all over again. There were two missed calls from Uzumaki Tech., followed by another three missed calls from a number which her phone identified as Minato Namikaze’s.

“Fuck,” she cursed. 

The most recent of the calls was merely an hour earlier at 9:00pm which made Ayane wonder why the CEO was trying to reach her even after work hours. Her email answered some of her questions. 

Though she was sure she had replied to the Human Resources email, Minato was the one who had replied to her directly. 

_Good afternoon Ms. Higashi,_

_I have been notified that you have declined your offer to work at Uzumaki Technology Corporation. I understand that you have listed another job offer as your reason, however, I would kindly like to ask that you reconsider. As we discussed in your interview, you have many experiences that we would find highly informative and useful at our company, and we would love to have you on board our team._

_I have made some adjustments myself on the contract as I think there are better ways that we can show our sincerity about the importance of having you at our company. As the CEO, I am open to any negotiations you may have to make this possible. In addition, I would like to reaffirm to you that I too, agree with your stance on professionalism. Please continue to consider this offer._

_Hoping to hear from you soon,_

_Minato Namikaze  
CEO of Uzumaki Technology Corporation_

With a heavy sigh, Ayane turned off the screen to her phone and tossed it to the other side of her large bed. It was late, and she was tired. No, not tired from all the physical labour that she was doing throughout the day, but tired of being constantly bombarded with thoughts about _him._

She had considered replying, but she didn’t know what else to say. She had hoped that her original email would have ended things between them and she could continue on with her life after they had gone separate ways, but now she was wondering why the man was so desperate to get her to work for him.

After a few minutes of headache and contemplation, she decided she would reply the next day once she had a clearer mind. Getting up, she changed into her usual set of pyjamas, a large oversized t-shirt with only panties and no bra underneath. She turned off her light and slipped into bed, hoping that with a new day, there would come more clarity.

\---

It was easier said than done. Sleep didn’t come well to Ayane that night as she tossed and turned in her bed, trying to think of how to respond to the CEO in the morning. She couldn’t truly fall asleep until about 3am after having distracted herself by watching YouTube videos throughout the night.

When the sun was higher in the horizon and shone brightly into the room, Ayane was suddenly awoken by the sound of her doorbell. In a daze, she reached for her phone to check the time, but her phone was out of batteries. When the bell rang for a second time, she stumbled out of her bed to her front door and tossed it open without thinking, as her mind was still groggy from sleep.

Silence filled the room, making Ayane suddenly aware that there was a very familiar presence standing right in front of her. Slowly, her eyes trailed up to find a familiar head of blonde hair and set of blue eyes.

“Mr. Namikaze…” She blinked once, twice, thinking maybe this was just an extension of her dreams (and a bad one at that).

Suddenly, it occurred to her that she wasn’t dreaming and the CEO was in fact standing right there in her doorway.

“M-Mr. Namikaze! Good morning!” The lack of sleep was beyond her now as she jumped at the realization that she had greeted him in her pyjamas and a large case of bedhead.

“Good morning!” His smile was neither sarcastic nor mocking as he greeted her. In fact, he was staring down at her with a sense of amusement and softness that made her feel guilty that she ever walked away from him, was rude to him, or declined him.

With a flushed face, she turned around and walked in. She reminded herself to stay professional, but the sight of Minato in casual weekend clothes, standing right there in front of her with a non-judgemental smile, made her heart flutter in a way that she hated herself for. She blamed it on the fact that he had caught her off guard with the surprise visit.

“Please, come in,” she offered. As she walked toward the kitchen, she gestured for him to take a seat on the couch before she went to grab two glasses of water. 

“Thank you,” he said once she offered him the cup. He took a sip and set it on the coffee table.

Ayane chugged her own glass, desperate to get the dryness out of her throat, and she hoped she would be more alert as well. As she did, droplets of water spilled over the corner of her lips and drizzled down her chin. Minato watched as the it hung precariously for a second before it dripped onto her white oversized t-shirt.

Once Ayane was done drinking, she felt his eyes on her. She suddenly became painfully aware that she was wearing a white cotton t-shirt that now had water on it, and nothing underneath. The t-shirt hung so long that it made it seem like she was bare on her bottom too, though it was almost accurate because she only had her underwear on.

Ayane’s eyes shot from her own attire to the man across from her. Minato looked away with flushed cheeks even though it was quite obvious to both of them, that he had been looking. Neither of them knew why it made them both reel in embarrassment though, as it was clear he had seen her in all her naked glory before.

“I’ll just...be right back.” Ayane didn’t wait for his acknowledgement before she dashed off to her bedroom to put on a bra, a fresh t-shirt, and a pair of leggings. She ran quickly to brush her teeth and straighten out her hair in the bathroom before finally joining the man in the living room again.

Minato was looking intently at his phone when she came out, his eyebrows furrowed as he read the screen. It was only when Ayane had sat down along the other end of the L-shaped couch, that he finally looked up to meet her gaze.

“You seem busy for a Saturday morning.” Ayane commented. She crossed her legs and leaned back on the couch, trying to seem in control of the situation. “May I ask why you are here today, Mr. Namikaze?”

Minato scowled at the formalities. “I asked you to call me Minato.”

“And I requested that you keep things professional between the two of us. How did you even get my address?” Ayane felt bad for a second when she heard the tone of her own voice. It came out harsher than she had expected. Minato had never done anything wrong, but in the end, she still wanted to keep a distance.

“I found it through your application and resume.” Minato sighed, and leaned forward toward her, enough so that she could see the sleeplessness in his eyes as well. “Ayane, I’m not going to beat around the bush. We need you at the company. I need you at the company.”

“Mr. Namikaze...Minato, I am honoured that you think so highly of me and that you came all the way here to talk to me...but I can’t, I’m sorry.” She became more sympathetic for the man in front of her after hearing his plea. She vaguely remembered the different headlines detailing different scandals and accusations about him. She wanted to help him, she really did, but she had to protect herself first.

“Isn’t there any way I can convince you?” He asked again.

“Minato...I do want to help you. Believe me, in any other circumstance your offer would be a dream come true. If it weren’t for that one night...maybe, but now…” How was she supposed to tell him that she wanted to stay away? How was she supposed to let him know that she saw a possibility of falling for him, and she was only doing what she knew best to protect her heart?

“Forget that one night,” Minato said almost unconvincingly. “I promise you, I’ll never bring it up if you don’t. We’ll just start fresh. Just a work relationship.”

“Minato…”

“Please,” he begged. His eyes were desperate as he shifted closer. “I need you to help me save my company. I need you to help me save my job.”

Silence overcame them as Ayane took in the words that he said. The youngest, most praised CEO in the country was begging her for help to rescue his career, and her heart ached in response to his need.

“Minato, what happened?” She finally asked. Never had she seen a business man so desperate for help, nonetheless her help. She figured he could have found a personal assistant anywhere.

His eyes closed as he entwined his fingers in concentration. His jaw clenched so tightly that he could barely speak. “I am having a lot of legal battles right now...companies, media, and even my own employees are suspecting me of things that I didn’t do. I can’t fight the press on my own while running the company, nor do I have the energy to. I know you’ve helped Akatsuki Inc. through a lot of their toughest public scandals in the past. None of the people I interviewed have the same experience as you do. You have to help me Ayane. Please…”

Ayane knew she shouldn’t have cared. She shouldn’t have let him into her house this morning. She shouldn’t have even slept with him to begin with, but slowly, she felt herself slipping up. 

“I-I can’t…” she tried again. Her voice carried less conviction than before and she cursed herself for it.

“Please...I promise you. Everything we had will be in the past. We’ll keep our relationship strictly professional. I just need your help.”

Ayane’s eyes scanned his hesitantly as she held her tongue. Eventually she gave in with a sigh. Minato clearly needed her, and it meant that she would have a job. In fact, it would mean that she would have a job that she enjoyed, was paid well, and was guaranteed to challenge her.

“Okay, but remember, just colleagues. I don’t do office romances.” It was like a weight lifted off her chest when she finally caved and the blonde man let out a bright and innocent grin. 

“Thank you! How can I ever repay you? Is there anything you need? An apartment closer to work? You do live quite a distance away.”

“Mr. Namikaze, I’m not your booty call. I do not need you to gift me an apartment. Besides, I like where I live.” She declined him almost coldly. There was a distinct scowl on his face at the sound of his last name again but he let it go.

“Then a car? I noticed you didn’t have a vehicle in your driveway,” he said, and before she could reply, he added on. “It’ll be a loan, not a gift. Think of it as a company car. Besides, you might need it as I do need you to run some errands in the future and you might need to work late hours or on weekends when bussing isn’t convenient.”

With a defeated sigh, Ayane let it go. “Fine. I’ll borrow a company car, but on the other hand, you need to promise me something.”

“What is it?” 

Ayane looked at him square in the eye, her expression firm. “You need to tell me the whole truth, Mr. Namikaze. Or else I can’t do my job. If I find out you are hiding secrets from me, I am gone.”

Minato’s shoulders deflated as he crossed his arms defeatedly. “It’s a long story, there’s a lot of complicated things going on that even I don’t know.”

“I’m not saying you have to tell me everything now, but eventually….”

“Okay,” he agreed. “If it means that it will make it easier for you to help me with the scrutiny, then of course. I never intended to hide anything from you to begin with.”

“Great!” Finally, Ayane allowed herself to smile. She convinced herself that they at least needed to start with a fresh, positive mood now that they would be working closely together. “You have yourself a deal, Mr. Namikaze.”

Minato rolled his eyes once again at the name, but returned a grin afterwards. They shook hands quickly before he reached for a folder he had brought with him. Placing it on the coffee table, he turned to the girl.

“That is your contract. It also contains a non-disclosure agreement. Take your time going over it, and let me know if there are any changes you would like. You can sign it and bring it with you on Monday and I’ll have you start then!” 

It was Ayane’s turn to roll her eyes at his words. “A non-disclosure agreement? Here I was thinking we just agreed to trust in one another.”

“Sorry,” Minato replied with a sheepish grin. “It’s the company’s rules, not mine. The CFO would not be very happy with me if I didn’t have it completed.”

“It’s okay, I’m just kidding. I understand.” The end of her sentence trailed off as MInato’s cell phone rang. She noticed the jaw clenching and eyebrow furrowing starting as he stared at the name on the screen.

“Speaking of the devil,” he groaned. He began heading for the door. “Sorry, I have to take this. I guess I’ll take my leave now then. I’ll see you on Monday?”

“See you Monday.” She agreed and got up to follow the man to the door. With a hushed goodbye, she closed the door behind her and sank to the floor. She let out a breath that she didn’t even know she had been holding, one that had accumulated ever since she saw his face at her door. His blonde hair, blue eyes, and gentle smile flashed in her mind but she shook it away.

It was then that she knew, she had messed up, big time.


	4. Chapter 4

It was about an hour later that Ayane felt her body returning to her as she finally snapped out of her trance of Minato Namikaze’s sudden appearance. Her phone rang with a text from Yoshino who had just returned from her honeymoon. She had demanded that they got together for dinner so they could talk, and by the urgency in her words, Ayane knew she had no choice, which is how she ended up in another predicament.

“So, did something happen the night of the wedding?” 

Ayane choked on her water upon hearing the question. They had just barely gotten seated at their favourite restaurant, and gotten their order placed when Yoshino began her interrogation.

“I thought we were meeting to talk about your honeymoon,” Ayane replied once she composed herself.

“Don’t change the subject on me missy! My sister told me she saw you walking out of the bar with Minato Namikaze that night!” 

Immediately, Ayane reached out to hush her best friend before taking a look around to see if anyone in the restaurant had heard them. Minato Namikaze was a popular figure as much as he was a business mogul. With his good looks and the scandals he was already facing, his face was plastered everywhere and many people knew him already. She didn’t want to risk exposing either one of them, especially now that she was the one that had to deal with the consequences as his public relations manager.

“Nothing,” she replied with a hushed voice. “Nothing happened between the two of us.”

Yoshino rolled her eyes, “how can you say it’s nothing when you two were seen making out at the open bar?!”

“Okay fine,” Ayane caved. “He approached me at the bar. We had a few drinks, and then we went up to his room and fucked. I left the next morning. That’s all there is.”

“ _He_ approached _you?!_ ” Yoshino grabbed her friend’s hands in excitement. “Minato Namikaze is only the hottest man of all time. Not only that, but he’s rich and successful, and super nice as well. Ayane, you should go for it!”

“No, I shouldn’t.” Her voice was stern to her friend. “Minato is my boss now. I’m not going to date my coworker, nonetheless the person I am working under.”

“Really?!” Yoshino’s gasp caused Ayane to shush her again. With a hushed voice, the married woman continued. “Does Shikaku know about this? I can’t believe he hasn’t told me yet.”

“No, he doesn’t. It was just decided earlier today.” The petite, raven-haired girl chose to spare the details about _how_ the decision had been reached between them. She didn’t want to lead her friend on into thinking there was anything more by Minato’s visit.

With a softening expression and a sympathetic look, Yoshino spoke. “You know, just because it didn’t work out once doesn’t mean it won’t work out again. From what Shikaku says, Minato is a good guy. I think you two should give it a shot. He’s not like your jerk ex.”

Ayane hated that her heart ached at the mention of her previous boyfriend. She had dated him for 7 years, all through university and finding their first job at the same company. Yet, as they continued to work together and climb in ranks, his personality had changed and their relationship became more toxic. Work was often the core of their arguments.

Thankfully for her, the topic was brought to an abrupt end when the waitress returned with their food. 

“So...how was your honeymoon?” 

Yoshino beamed and began to recount everything that had happened from the night of the wedding to each and every meal they ate during their vacation in Hawaii. Feigning interest, Ayane nodded and “hmm”ed along to her words. Meanwhile, her mind drifted off to the haunting memories of her ex. She wondered what he would think now that she had moved on and had begun working for the enemy.

\---

On Monday morning, Minato arrived early for work. He left a copy of Ayane’s revised contract on the head of the human resource’s desk. Afterward, he went to his own floor and prepared the desk that was in front of his office. 

Ensuring his PA’s desk was mostly clear and well organized, he fixed himself a cup of coffee and went into his own glass enclosed space to try to get a head start on his work. It wasn’t until another half hour that people were expected to be arriving for work, or at his door. 

When the slight knock echoed in his office, Minato called them in. His eyes looked up to meet the CFO of his company, a dark haired man who entered with a stern look on his face. Hiashi Hyuga, whose father was one of the founders of the company, was only a few years older than him in his mid-thirties. 

He had always been a supporter of Minato during his climb to his CEO position, but lately, it seems as if he had become more critical of the young business man’s decisions. Today was no exception.

“Minato, what are you thinking?!” 

Minato jumped back at the aggressive tone of voice though he should have figured based on the way the man entered the room. 

“Hiashi, what’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter?” The older man raged as he stood in front of the desk. He stared down at the blonde in front of him, though if Minato were to stand up, he would probably tower over the CFO. “How can you hire the head secretary from our rival company, as your personal assistant?! She’s been working with them for years! How can you just trust her like that?”

Minato took a moment to recover from the accusation. He pondered about how the man even knew about his new PA, and furthermore, how he knew about her history in such detail. Perhaps the human resource manager had contacted him upon hiring.

“She was the only one with enough experience of all the candidates that I interviewed.” Minato replied in a matter-of-factly tone. All in all, it was the truth, the utmost truth, that she was the only one suitable for the position. He, himself, was also worried, but chose instead to trust her. Afterall, he had no choice.

“And?” Hiashi questioned. “Minato, you can train anyone to do any job! Heck, take one of our secretaries from downstairs or on your floor. That new assistant of yours has been working with the highest executives in Akatsuki. You should just find someone else.”

“I don’t have time!” Minato stood up, the last of his patience running low as he slammed a palm onto the table and jolted to his feet. “Hiashi, you and I both know what kind of pressure I have been under ever since Kushina and I ended things. I’m under surveillance every day from our clients, the media, and even our own employees. Our stocks have already been dropping. We need someone with experience, otherwise it’ll be too late.”

“Too late for what?” 

Both the men turned to find Shikaku standing at the doorway, staring at them with wide eyes. A sheepish grin began to appear on his face when he realized that all the attention was on him. “Sorry, I should have knocked. The door was opened so I accidentally heard a bit at the end.”

“It’s alright,” Hiashi replied with a sigh. His shoulders slipped a bit as he took a deep breath and began to analyze what he had just heard. Minato too, took it as an opportunity to calm down.

“I was just leaving anyways,” the CFO said before he turned one last time to Minato. “Listen, just be careful alright? You’re right, everyone is watching us now, and we’re in enough shit as it is. I just hope you’re making the right decision.”

With that, the older man left the room, leaving Shikaku with a confused expression. Trying to put two and two together, the newest arrival walked into the room to face his boss and best friend. “What was that all about?”

Minato let out a deep breath and fell back into his office chair. He felt as if he was fighting a war, and had only won one small battle now. It was exhausting, constantly being questioned, and now, even his business partner was sceptical of his decisions.

“Is it about Ayane?” Shikaku asked when his original question was met with silence. When Minato nodded slightly in response, the Financial Advisor’s eyebrows furrowed. “Ayane who you requested a company car for?”

The blonde CEO wanted to groan. Now he even had to explain himself to his best friend, and he hated that feeling. “She’s my new personal assistant and she lives uptown. In order for her to get to the office, it usually takes her over an hour of commuting. She’ll need the car in case I have last minute changes to my schedule, or if she needs to run errands or attend business functions for me.”

Unlike with Hiashi, a knowing grin suddenly appeared on Shikaku’s face at the mention of the girl. He was never one to gossip, but now that the new personal assistant was due to arrive, he simply had to know.

“Minato, are you sure it’s not because you have the hots for her?”

Minato scowled, although the blush on his face betrayed him. “No. It’s strictly a business relationship between us.”

“But you have to admit, she’s good looking.” Shikaku replied.

“Just get me the car…” Minato groaned.

Shikaku gave a light chuckle before he became serious. “Listen, Minato. I’m only saying this because you are like a brother to me. I know Ayane is not a traitor, she seems nice enough to me, so that’s not what I’m worried about. What I am worried about is your love life. I’m not saying don’t go for it, but just be careful. Right now is not the right time...especially with Kushina and everything.”

“Don’t worry, there’s nothing going on between us. We agreed already to keep it professional.”

“Even after whatever happened at the wedding?” Minato’s eyes shot up to his smirking friend. Internally, he cursed the big mouthed women he knew was behind all of this. Ayane must have told Yoshino because Shikaku had never been one for gossiping.

“Nothing happened at the wedding.”

Shikaku rolled his eyes, “whatever you say! Just don’t make it awkward when she arrives!”

As if on cue, the voice of Minato’s secretary was paging him through his phone’s speaker. “Mr. Namikaze, Ms. Higashi has arrived. Should I send her in?”

Knowing his friend was looking at him with a teasing grin, Minato avoided eye contact as he replied. “Yes please. Have her come down to my office. In the meantime, can you get her a name tag for her desk, and contact IT about setting up her email and login?”

“Of course sir, right away.”

“Thank you, Rin.” As the conversation ended, Minato turned to Shikaku who had his arms crossed as he stood by the door. Taking the conversation as a cue, the man prepared to excuse himself for the day when Minato stopped him in his tracks.

“Can I ask you one more favour, Shikaku?”

\---

The first day had gone well for Ayane. With most of the day dedicated to setting up her workspace, her work email and account, and importing Minato’s own schedule into her devices, she easily found her pace in the office environment, much like she had at her previous company. 

Of course, she had to be extra careful, not of the work that she was doing, but of the blonde man that was introducing her to most of the things around her work office. It was unavoidable, of course, for her to stay at a distance physically, because they had crowded in front of her computer to discuss his scheduling, but she constantly reminded herself to maintain an emotional barrier, even if her heart was beating fast.

By the end of the day, she had caught up with Minato’s schedule, met a few of the executives, and took note of Minato’s preferences including how he liked his coffee and how he hated meeting with the legal department in the mornings because he had no patience for it. 

Needless to say, despite the awkward start, Ayane felt comfortable at work, and was actually excited to return the next day. That is, until she stepped out of the front door the next morning and noticed a brand new white Tesla Model S sitting in her driveway. With angry footsteps, she approached the car and reached for the note that was sitting on the windshield.

_As per our negotiations. The keys are in the glove compartment.  
Also, I got you some gifts to aid you in your work._

_See you at work,  
Minato_

Heading around to the driver’s side, Ayane pulled the door open to find a brand new iPad Pro and a new iPhone 11 in the driver’s seat. With a frustrated groan, she stuffed both unopened boxes into the passenger seat and turned the car on. It was a good thing the car was here and now she would arrive early for work, because she now needed time to have a firm word with Minato Namikaze.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ayane reached the office half an hour earlier than usual. The clicking of her heels echoed down the hallways as she briskly made her way to her desk. After dropping off her bag, she took the two Apple devices that Minato had gifted her and marched toward the glass office.

She could tell from the glass walls that the CEO was already inside working on his laptop. After knocking on the door, she heard a quiet “come in” from the other side.

Ocean blue eyes met hers as she entered the room, tantalizing her for a brief second. Minato spoke up before Ayane was able to express her fury. “Oh great! Just in time. Ayane, do you mind grabbing me a cup of coffee? I have a conference call in a minute, there was a last minute arrangement with a long term client.” 

Just as he finished speaking, a tune blared from his laptop, indicating an incoming video call. Snapping out of her anger, she put on her best professional look. “Sure thing. Would you like me to sit into the meeting to take minutes?”

“Yes please.” Minato responded with the kind smile that Ayane had recognized from the first day that they met. In the next second, he turned back to his call and clicked to answer it.

On the way to the lounge, Ayane set the electronics back on her desk. She made a mental note to confront him later on when time permitted. 

The hallway was still empty as people weren’t expected to arrive for another 20 minutes or so. Still, the lounge was well stocked with a coffee maker, espresso machine, and a wide selection of snacks, pastries, and fruit. As she waited for the coffee to brew, she grabbed an apple and pastry for herself and another pastry for Minato, knowing that the man likely didn’t have breakfast yet based on the haggard look on his face.

Once the coffee was done, she made her way back to her desk and tucked her own laptop under her armpit. With a coffee in one hand and food in the other, she let herself into Minato’s office and sat across from him.

Minato shot her a grateful look when she placed the refreshments next to him. She flipped open her laptop and pulled up a document that he shared with her. There, she was able to catch up with the main points of the meeting. Taking over, she began to take notes on the template the Minato had provided. 

With a slight smile on his face, the blonde CEO relaxed in his chair as his assistant did the work for him. All he had to do was speak with the client and discuss their upcoming collaboration.

The meeting was brief, just a confirmation about the details of their contract. Securing this sales meant that Minato’s company had finished the quarter just over their projected sales goal. Finally, he was able to relax, because for a few weeks, it looked as if they were not going to make it and he was to blame because of his public image.

When the call ended and Minato finally shut his laptop, he began to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Ayane watched in worry as he downed the remainder for his lukewarm coffee. “Can you set up an appointment with mister Watanabe within the next two weeks? Just to follow up with the set up once it’s up and running.”

“Of course,” Ayane opened her phone and put it on her to-do list. “Anything else?”

“Yes. At our company, we hold a get together for the staff for every successful quarter. Can you be in charge of putting that together for next Friday evening after work? We typically just rent a private room at one of those bars around the corner.”

“Yeah sure. I have a few in mind.” She replied. It wasn’t anything new. Event planning was part of her old job too. In fact, she still had connections with the higher end bars that all the company executives liked to go to.

Eyeing the time on her watch, she turned back to Minato. “You have a meeting with Shikaku in ten minutes to debrief the quarterly sales. Do you need me to attend or?”

Minato shook his head, his soft smile returning. Ayane realized that the man often hid it when discussing business and only ever revealed it to her when his guard was down. “That’s everything.”

“Okay I’ll leave you to it then.” Ayane got up and made her way out the door with her laptop in one hand and her apple in the other. Realization hit her as she eyed the fruit.

“Oh, and don’t forget to eat your breakfast,” she said, turning back to the CEO. “You look like you could use some energy.”

“Thank you.” 

Minato’s smile was contagious, she realized. Even though she had made it clear to both of them that she would keep herself at a distance, she couldn’t help but send a smile in return. It was the way that Minato seemed so kind and innocent, that made her want to wholeheartedly protect him and help him even more.

“You’re welcome, Mr. Namikaze.” She sent him a wink before walking out the door. A giggle escaped her when she heard him groan at the name before the door clicked closed behind her.

“Good morning, Ayane.” The petite girl startled when she almost ran into a man in front of her that she didn’t realize was there.

“Oh Shikaku, you scared me.” She replied. Despite the fact that the man was her best friend’s husband, she had rarely talked to him outside of wedding planning. Now, she realized, he was one of the only people at work that she knew and could trust.

“Maybe you would have noticed I was here if you weren’t flirting with Mr. CEO,” Shikaku replied with a smirk. This elicited an embarrassing flush over Ayane’s cheeks. Still though, she reminded herself to be nonchalant about it.

“There’s nothing going on between us.” She quickly denied.

Shikaku simply shrugged and stepped around the girl to make his way to his meeting. “Whatever you say, squirt.”

Ayane wondered where the nickname suddenly came from, but she decided she didn’t hate it. Before she could rebuttal any further, the man disappeared behind the office door.

It wasn’t until Ayane reached her desk that she was reminded of the reason why she came looking for Minato earlier in the morning. His gifts for her sat on her desk. The morning meeting was so sudden that Ayane had forgotten to confront the man about it. With a sigh, she pushed them aside and began making arrangements for the staff gathering that Minato had requested. She would just have to get back to him later.

\---

The entire day, Minato was either in a conference call or in a meeting with the higher executives. Ayane also barely had time to eat her lunch, nonetheless speak to her boss. Finally, when the evening rolled around and everyone in the office had dissipated, she finally caught Minato with a gap in his schedule.

She grabbed both devices and walked in without knocking. Noticing the man slumped over at his desk, and his head resting on his arms, Ayane’s gaze softened again. Minato was so deep in his sleep that he didn’t even notice when she took his jacket from the hanger and placed it over his shoulders. 

It was getting late already and as she watched him, she wondered why he spent so much excess time at work. Even the workaholics that she had encountered previously didn’t work as diligently as him. She wondered if he had anyone waiting for him at home every night.

That’s when she took notice of a small picture frame that was sitting in front of his desktop monitor. She hadn’t seen it before because the screen had been hiding it from view. Inside was a picture of a younger Minato and a girl with startling red hair. Both were smiling excitedly at the camera.

Ayane hadn’t seen the girl before, but she remembered that she once read an article about her boss being engaged. The engagement must have ended, she figured, because Minato didn’t seem like the type of guy to cheat while he was in a relationship. Her heart ached though, when she realized that he was likely still in love with her, to have her picture on his desk.

Ayane didn’t have a right to be hurt though, because she was nothing but a one night stand. Not to mention, she had rejected the man on more than one occasion. Forcing herself to look away, she put the iPhone and iPad on Minato’s desk, and went home for the night.

\---

The next day, Ayane arrived at work as per usual. Minato’s schedule for the morning was empty, which meant that she too was free to complete her own tasks. Almost as soon as she got there though, her office line rang.

“Hello, Mr. Namikaze’s office.” She called into the phone.

“Ayane, can you come in here for a sec?”

Ayane didn’t need to see his expression to hear the disappointment in his voice. She turned around to find Minato staring straight at her from the other side of the glass wall. The man hung up as soon as they made eye contact, and with a sigh, Ayane got up from her spot and went into her boss’s office. 

When she entered and was confronted by Minato’s hardened expression, she wondered if she had done something wrong that needed reprimanding. Never had she thought he would be capable of looking angry, yet here he was, looking thoroughly offended.

“Did you need something, Mr. Namikaze?”

Ayane’s eyes were drawn to the two white boxes that she had left on the CEO’s desk as he pushed it toward her. _Oh…_

“I gave you these for work purposes. The iPad for taking minutes during meetings and portable scheduling. The iPhone was to be used as a business line for not only me to reach you, but other executives or companies to reach you as well.” Minato said in a straightforward manner. “I would like to know why these are on my desk.”

Ayane had forgotten about the electronics all together, and despite the fact that Minato’s lecture suddenly had her feeling like a kicked puppy, she decided to stand her ground. 

“Mr. Namikaze, I don’t need fancy new devices to do my job. I’ve been doing my job perfectly fine with my own laptop and phone before coming to this company,” she argued. “Besides, I don’t want anyone in this company thinking that I am receiving special treatment by the CEO.”

Minato’s expression softened when he realized her harsh tone matched his just a moment earlier. He wasn’t particularly angry that she was using other devices for her work, he knew she was more than capable enough, even if she had to resort to using pencil and paper, but he was rather upset that she had rejected his gift.

“It’s simply an offer,” he replied in a lighter tone. “Although I do prefer you use this new technology, and specifically have a work phone that we can reach you at, I suppose you don’t have to use them. I don’t mean to question your abilities.”

“In that case, I can get my own.” Ayane replied, “you have been more than generous enough with the work vehicle and increasing my salary offer in the contract. I can afford to purchase my own work phone if you would like.”

Hurt spread across Minato’s eyes upon hearing her rejection yet again. “Can’t you just accept the phone at least? All the executives have one. No one will dare question it.”

With a heavy sigh, Ayane accepted the phone, taking it from the CEO’s desk. “Next time, Mr. Namikaze, please stick to our agreements. I don’t want any extra gifts from you. I don’t want any misunderstandings-”

“I know, and like I said before, I agree. We are nothing but co-workers.” The words were brisk and cold as they left his mouth. Minato nodded toward the phone in her hand. “The SIM card is inside the box. That’s all for now.”

Knowing she had upset the man in front of her, made Ayane’s heart crack a little bit. She knew he meant well, but she couldn’t just accept it. Dropping her head she apologized. “I’m sorry Mr. Nam- Minato. I just think that it’s best if we keep a clear line...you know?”

“I know.”

He did know, because he was undeniably attracted to her even though he had promised her otherwise. But when she walked toward the door and their eyes met again, he knew it would be harder said than done, even for her.

Her warm brown eyes scanned his in uncertainty for a second before she let out a small smile. “Thank you though, for the gift.”

\---

The rest of the day had gone smoothly for them as it was a slow work day with limited meetings. That’s why, when the time came to go home and Minato had yet to appear from his office, Ayane went to check in concern. 

“Come in,” his voice called when she knocked. He was once again submerging himself in his work as he looked through the binders of reports that had arrived earlier in the day. 

She let the door slide to a close behind her and leaned on it as she eyed the man in front of her. “It’s 5:30 already.”

“Oh,” he didn’t even look up from the papers. “Thank you for staying late again. You can go home now.”

“You should too.” 

Her words were so casual that Minato had missed it at first. After a brief moment, he looked up at the girl across from him. None of his assistants in the past or any co-workers for that matter had cared about when he left. In fact, it was a normal occurrence to see him stay overtime at work every night to the point where Kushina used to yell at him.

He flinched, his heart aching in remembrance of the name. He refrained himself from glancing at the photo on his desk, and instead, decided to focus on the girl in front of him.

“It’s alright, I still have work to do.”

A slight frown lifted at the edge of her lips as she eyed the files piled on his desk. “Anything I can help you with?”

“No...I’m used to it.”

Ayane’s thoughts were conflicted as she tried to find the right words to express her worry for the man. “You know…. I think you should get some rest Mr. Namikaze. Every day you look so tired. Maybe I’m looking into it too much, but is there a reason why you aren’t going home?”

Minato’s blue eyes were lost in thought after Ayane’s words. With a heavy sigh, he stood up and snapped the binder closed. At a brisk pace, he approached Ayane. The assistant pressed back a bit into the door as she read the intensity in the man’s eyes.

Once he was in front of her, he leaned forward, enough so that his height allowed him to hover over her. Ayane felt herself shivering, her usual strong persona gone as she was reminded of the way he looked and felt when he was hovering over her that night. 

“I thought I asked you to call me Minato.”

The flirtatious tone of his voice and the heat radiating off his body made Ayane quiver. She knew she should have looked away but she was caught in the depth of his ocean coloured eyes. 

It took a moment, a long moment in both of their minds, before the tension ceased. Minato gave a light chuckle, his lips quirking up in the corners and his eyes forming into light arches. “I’m just messing with you.”

Reaching out his long arms, he grabbed his suit jacket off the hanger next to the door and tucked it in the crook of his elbow. “Let’s go.”

Ayane almost stumbled in her heels as she stepped out of the way quickly so that Minato could open the door for the both of them. On the way out, she grabbed her belongings from her desk and walked next to the CEO on the way to the elevator. 

They stood awkwardly next to each other as they waited for the doors to open. Minato’s hands were tucked in his pants pocket as hers were holding her large purse. When a ding finally echoed through the empty building and they stepped inside the carriage, Minato finally cleared his throat.

“So, how’s the planning for the gathering coming along?” He asked.

“It’s just about finalized. I will send you the confirmed details tomorrow for approval,” she replied. 

“No need. Just send out the invitation to all the executives, managers, and the sales team. I’m sure everything will be fine.” Ayane wasn’t sure where Minato’s utmost confidence for her came from, especially when she hadn’t worked with him for long, but something about the way he seemed to give people the benefit of the doubt, only added to the list of reasons why people seemed obsessed over the young businessman.

“Sounds good.” She said, “I’ll have that done by tomorrow afternoon.”

There was a beat of silence before Minato responded. “So, you’re going right? To the gathering?”

“No. I’m not a fan of business gatherings,” she quickly refused. _Or any gathering for that matter._

“But you’re the one organizing it. You have to go.” Minato didn’t know why he insisted, in fact, he was never one to enjoy those parties to begin with as well, but it was an aspect of his job that he had to endure in order to keep his colleagues and his business clients happy. 

“I can give the details to Rin. She should be more than capable of handling it.”

The scowl on Minato’s face said it all. He was wishing that she would be there, then at least there was someone to keep him company while everyone else was busy getting drunk. In the past few days he was starting to appreciate her company, as not many others in the company other than Shikaku had bothered to get to know him otherwise.

“Okay...but just consider it.” He gave in just as they reached the first level of the carpark where Ayane’s car was. As she stepped out, and waved to her boss, a small smile blossomed on her face.

“We’ll see. Have a goodnight, Mr. Namikaze.”


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Ayane didn’t know what she was thinking, sitting in her car and checking her makeup. She didn’t know why she had decided to come in the first place, after telling him no, and suffering through a long day at work. 

Everyone had left excitedly at 5pm to go home and get ready for their get together at the restobar at 8pm. Meanwhile, Ayane stayed at work with Minato until about 7:00, having an after meeting with a client. The CEO had tried to convince her a final time before he drove off to join his colleagues, but Ayane had been adamant that she didn’t want to be there.

Perhaps it was the disappointed look on Minato’s face that had her second guessing her decision, though she would like to believe it was the text she received from Yoshino earlier in the day asking if she would be there. 

Ayane was now an hour late after having gone home to change into a black long sleeved bodycon dress which cut short at her upper thigh, and curled her long hair. She still had her makeup and stiletto heels donned from her work day as she sat in her car, questioning her own decisions. 

She eyed Shikaku’s car parked down the row and took solace in the fact that at least her best friend would be there to talk to, especially because she hadn’t met many people from work yet. With a heavy sigh, she stepped out of her car, grabbed her small side purse and swung it over her shoulder. She locked her Tesla and made her way into the restaurant-bar that was already packed with her workmates.

A pit of regret formed in her stomach when she pulled open the door and was met with the blast of music, and the stench of sweat and alcohol. Scanning the crowd, she easily spotted a head of long blonde hair talking to the CFO amongst other executives. She quickly looked away before Minato could make eye contact, afterall, business was the last thing that she wanted to do after a long week at work.

Next to the bar, she found Yoshino and Shikaku who were waiting for their drinks. A small smile formed on Ayane’s face as she approached her best friend who was also dressed up for the occasion. 

“Ayane!!!” Yoshino’s voice pierced through the crowd when she noticed the petite girl walking toward her. She quickly waved her over and grabbed her arm once she had arrived.

“I thought you said you weren’t coming,” she continued excitedly. “Gosh! You look stunning!”

“You do too!” Her dark haired friend rarely had an occasion to get dressed up, and therefore was never as adept to makeup, hair, and heels the way Ayane was. Today though, she had on a loose hanging spaghetti strapped dress with an open back. This made Ayane wonder if perhaps Shikaku’s staff socials had changed the way her best friend presented herself.

“Still nothing like you though!” Yoshino cried as she reached out to touch the loose curls Ayane had created. The bartender reached over the counter with two glasses.

“An orange juice for my lady, and a Whiskey Sour for the gentleman.” The guy said. Shikaku reached over and handed him a cash tip before grabbing his own glass and handing the other to his wife.

Ayane eyed the cup in her friend’s hand. “You know, one drink early in the night isn’t going to disqualify you from being designated driver.”

A noticeable blush formed on Yoshino’s face as she turned to eye her husband who gave her a kind smile and a quick kiss on the cheek. He stepped back from the two girls and dismissed himself. 

“I’ll be back,” he said. “You two have fun. I’ll just go and let Minato know that you’re here.”

Ayane swore she felt her face becoming warmer as Shikaku winked at her and walked away toward the crowd of executives. Dread filled her stomach when he stepped next to his boss, leaned over, and whispered into his ear. Not wanting to see the consequences, she shifted her stance to face the bar and pulled Yoshino to block the line of sight between them.

“What can I get for you?” The bartender openly scanned Ayane’s attire from top to bottom, an all too friendly smirk played on his face. 

“A vodka cranberry.” Her mind drifted off to the last time she ordered that drink, Minato’s face plaguing her mind. “Actually, make it double.”

When her drink arrived, she took a swig of it and allowed the alcohol to burn in her throat before turning back to her friend. “So? Tell me about the orange juice.”

Yoshino giggled as she took another sip of it and placed her hand on her stomach. “Well...I’m pregnant.”

Ayane choked on her drink, almost wanting to puke it out at the sound of her words. Last she checked, the girl, who was the same age as her just barely got married, and now she had another little life inside of her?!

“Wow….that’s...fast.” 

“I know right?” Yoshino replied excitedly. “We tried the night of the wedding, and all the days of our honeymoon. My period was supposed to come four days ago so I checked and…”

 _That’s not what I meant_ , Ayane thought, but held her words. Instead, she turned to her friend and held her glass up to clink it against the other. “Congratulations!”

“Thank you!” 

There was a slight pause in the conversation when a colleague of Ayane’s approached the women, an executive, easily ten years older than them who began to flirt with the assistant. Ayane took the conversation with stride, easily introducing herself, while creating just enough distance to thwart the suggestive comments he threw about her attire.

Yoshino eyed the way her best friend was poised, just as composed as ever as she leaned against the bar with her drink in hand. Though shorter and thinner, Ayane had always been the more protective one of the two, and a lot more goal driven as well. Yoshino had never seen Ayane lose direction of herself. That’s why, when she came home broken the day after her break up with her ex, Yoshino was at a loss for words. Now though, it seemed as if she was beginning to find her stride again. Ayane was always good at hiding her emotions though, so she couldn’t be sure.

Yoshino was thrown from her thoughts as she suddenly became alert at the gestures initiated by the man. As he leaned to face Ayane, he placed one of his hands on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze every once in a while to emphasize a point. Ayane, being the professional that she was, kept a straight face, ignoring the signals that were thrown at her. Yoshino was almost in panic when she saw the look in the man’s eyes. She scanned the crowd to find her husband, in hopes that he would be able to get them out of the situation because she knew, if she spoke up herself, she would only bring a bad reputation to her husband at work.

“Jiraiya, it seems like you met my new assistant.” 

The saving grace came in the form of Minato Namikaze in all of his blonde haired and blue eyed glory. It was clear that the man had a few drinks already to socialize, but still, his presence was as composed as ever. 

Jiraiya dropped his hand from Ayane’s arm and used it to reach around and give Minato a brotherly hug. “Yes I have! Boy have I taught you well. This girl is a keeper!”

That’s when Yoshino remembered that she had always seen the older man around during gatherings and even at her own wedding. Shikaku had been clear for her to stay clear of that man ever since day one, not that he was malicious, but because he was an open pervert despite his many years of experience in marketing. 

“She has a great work ethic and is very knowledgeable too.” Minato agreed, shooting Ayane a look as he did a once over of her attire. She almost flinched back because she swore she had never seen the man so angry before. 

“She also has a great- ah!” Jiraiya was cut off when Minato pinched his arm. “Sense of humour! I was just saying she has a great sense of humour!”

The CEO shook his head in disbelief before he began to drag the older man away. “Come on Jiraiya, I think you’ve had more than enough to drink.” 

Minato turned to the girls one last time before he began to walk in the opposite direction. “Sorry about this. Enjoy your night!”

There was a long period of silence before Yoshino turned to look at Ayane with a joyous look in her eyes. “What. Was. That?!”

“What was what?” Ayane downed the rest of her drink and immediately signalled for another one. She hated being caught in situations where men had the audacity to approach her based on their title, and though she was happy that Minato had stepped in, she was angry at him too because she had the situation under control.

“Minato Namikaze, the CEO, just came to your rescue!” 

“As any man should do when their female colleague is being harassed,” Ayane replied pointedly. “Besides, it wasn’t that bad. I could have handled it myself.”

“Oh come on. Look at him!” Yoshino turned the petite girl abruptly in the direction of the CEO. His looks stuck out like a sore thumb in the crowd with his height, perfectly tailored suit, and head of blonde hair. “He’s gorgeous Ayane! Besides, I can see the way he looks at you. Whatever you have between the two of you, it needs to happen.”

“That, is my boss.” Ayane stood firm, though her eyes kept looking over to catch small glimpses of the man in question. “I’d rather keep my job, thank you very much.”

Yoshino’s eyes softened. “Fine, but I’m just warning you. If you don’t go for him, someone else will.”

Ayane snuck another look at the CEO who was off talking with his colleagues. He still shifted around awkwardly as he talked, reminding her about how he also disliked the social aspect of their work environment. Taking another glance around, it was the first time she noticed how the room seemed to gravitate around him, even though everyone was having their own conversations.

Many women in the room, even the ones who were married to the different businessmen, took small glances at the blonde CEO, some more openly than others. Even the men in their company seemed to look at him with a sense of respect despite some of them being many years older than him. 

Her heart weakened as she caught another glimpse of him. It was no mystery why he was so popular. He was intelligent, had a great work ethic, was incredibly handsome, and treated everyone well. Yoshino was right, Minato Namikaze was a catch...but just not for her.

As if on cue, the CEO turned to make eye contact with her. He sent her a kind smile despite her being caught red handed, and then turned back to the conversation he was having. Unbeknownst to her, she too, returned the gesture. 

Ayane spent the rest of the night talking to Yoshino, even ditching the bar for a comfier couch in a more secluded corner. Most of the place had begun to clear out by 11pm as many of the employees were tired from work. Yoshino too, was exhausted as she was in her early stages of her pregnancy. 

By the time 11:30 rolled around, Shikaku came to meet them so that the couple could head home. 

“Hi sweetheart.” He gave the dark haired woman a kiss on the cheek and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Let’s go home now, I’m sooo tired.”

The man clearly had more than a handful of drinks which was expected of them as business professionals, but he was still clear minded, well...enough to tease Ayane anyways. With watery, drunken eyes, he turned to the brunette.

“Ayane, you might want to go find Minato,” he winked. “Jiraiya made him down a few more drinks than he could handle. He needs a ride home tonight.”

“Why me?” Ayane countered.

“Because, you’re his personal assistant aren’t you? The old one used to drive him everywhere. Oh, and you need to ask him for his new address. The one on file is old now, whatever you do, don’t bring him there.”

Before Ayane could protest that she too didn’t know where the man lived, the couple left. Ayane, becoming flustered, scanned the room for Minato.

She spotted him hunched over at the bar, swirling a glass of whiskey in his hand as he stared distantly into the swishing liquid. She had wondered why he wasn’t socializing with the other executives or managers, but one look around, told her that many of them were gone, and perhaps, not many people knew him personally to begin with. Her heart sunk as she wondered how a CEO could look so lonely at his own company gathering.

Putting on her nonchalant face, she went to the bar and asked for a glass of water. Once the cup had arrived in her hand, she took a sip and turned to the man next to her. 

“So, looking to get away from this party too?” She heard a light chuckle in response as she mocked the CEO’s words at their first meeting.

“There’s a lot of things I want to get away from.” He chugged the glass of whiskey and signalled the bartender for another one. 

“No. No more.” She told the bartender. “Just get him a glass of water as well please.”

With a quick nod, the bartender filled another glass and placed it on the table. Minato groaned in protest at the clear liquid in front of him. 

“Whyyy?”

“Because, Mr. Namikaze, you have an image to uphold. You can’t get wasted at your own staff party.” Ayane scolded. She forced the water into the man’s hands and watched as he obediently drank half the glass. 

“I told you to call me Minato.” He replied, glaring at her. His hand reached out to touch her thigh before trailing his fingers along the bottom of her skin tight dress. “I need to punish you.”

Ayane froze in her spot as she looked around to see if anyone had heard. Luckily, the music was still blaring and no one was in proximity. “For what?”

“For wearing something so provocative. How can you let another man touch you like that?” Minato began leaning closer, just as he had the night of the wedding. Ayane began having flashbacks of the way his hands travelled from her thighs to her behind, and the way he pressed his body on hers as they explored each other’s mouths at the bar.

Shivers ran down her back, and she had a strange sense of desire for it all happening again, but alas, this was not the time and place for it. Grabbing the hand that was on her leg, she stood up and began pulling the man away from the bar. 

“You’re drunk, Mr. Namikaze. We need to get you home.” 

She ignored the various looks she was getting as she guided the CEO toward the front of the restobar. She knew for a fact that come Monday, gossip would have spread throughout the building, but it would be easy for her to refute them. Afterall, if Shikaku was right, she was nothing but a designated driver for the night.

As she brought Minato to the car, she heard him whine in protest. “I don’t want to go home.”

Even though the assistant insisted, nothing was done as the man refused to provide an address. By the time Ayane helped her boss get into the passenger seat and got into the car herself, she was beyond frustrated and helpless. Minato had all but passed out in the seat next to her and there was only one place left she could bring him.

To her home.


	7. Chapter 7

Minato woke up to sunlight flooding his vision and a pounding headache. He groaned and rolled over, his nose catching the whiff of an unfamiliar yet pleasant scent. That’s when his senses came to him as he shot up and checked his surroundings.

He was on a double bed in a decent sized room. There was a window to his right and a small closet in the corner. Another door led to a connecting bathroom while the closed one, he guessed, led to the hallway.

It dawned on him that he hadn’t remembered what had happened the night prior which led him to where he was now. He hurriedly checked his body and let out a breath of relief when he realized he had at least dodged another one night stand as he was fully clothed with the exception of his suit jacket and shoes. His tie had been lowered and the top button of his shirt loosened, but he most definitely still reeked of alcohol rather than sex.

He patted his pocket and panic set in for a second when he realized he didn’t have his phone or his wallet, but with one look at the bedside table, he realized he hadn’t been robbed either. Everything was surprisingly there along with a glass of water and a bottle of Advil. 

With a heavy sigh, he reached over and took the medicine, trusting that whoever was offering it to him meant no harm. Once that was done, he made his way to the bathroom, his head spinning with each step he took. He turned the faucet on and splashed some cool water on his face, enough to clear the rest of the daze from his mind.

After fixing himself up, he tucked his phone and wallet into his pants pocket and made his way out of the room into a now familiar house. He had only been there only once, but still felt a sense of safety there.

Ayane had brought him back to her place, he realized, after he had gotten drunk at the bar. That’s when flashbacks of last night hit him like a storm.

\---

_Minato reminded himself to keep his drinks paced throughout the night as he conversed with his co-workers about some work and non-work related things. Those who didn’t know, asked him throughout the night where Kushina was as she was always at corporate events, and he had simply brushed it off with a change of topic or with another drink._

_As the night was drawn on though, he felt more and more like an outsider at his own company. No one really knew him, at least, not in a way that exceeded that of a boss and employee relationship. Even his own assistant, who was new to the company, found a companion in her best friend for the night while his own best friend was out conversing with his own finance team._

_Eventually, he approached the bar and began to order more and more drinks. Time seemed to pass dreadfully slow as his vision began to blur. He remembered vaguely considering how he was going to get home that night. If he returned to his old house, drunk and in a cab, he would receive shit again from his ex-fiance._

_He chuckled in self-pity. He couldn’t even go to his own house. He would have to return to the damned empty downtown apartment he had rented all alone again._

_That was when a familiar presence sat next to him. He looked over, openly checking out the fine body that he longed to hold. He remembered being infuriated with the fact that she had let Jiraiya hit on her, and that she had even dressed so scantily to begin with. He felt oddly possessive over her as he reached out to play with the hem of her short bodycon dress._

_She had forced him to drink water, reprimanding him for his behaviour, to which he succumbed like a little baby. He had to admit, he liked the controlling side of her, and it only turned him on more._

_As she dragged his body to the car, he followed along like a lost puppy. He had nowhere to go, and he didn’t want to go back to his deserted apartment, so he practically begged her not to bring him back. He hated being alone. He just wanted to be with her._

_He remembered falling asleep briefly during the car ride home. The cold leather seats of the brand new Tesla cooled his sweating, alcohol-filled body. And when they finally reached her house, he couldn’t hold himself back anymore._

_He turned around, pinning the girl against the closed front door. His hands automatically finding themselves on the sides of her waist. Their lips met with intensity, in a way that was much too familiar to both of them, and she let out a lust-filled moan when he picked her up and pressed her back against the door, her legs locking around his own torso._

_They stayed like this for a while, with heavy, desperate panting, and wet kisses plaguing his drunken mind. That was, until she removed her hands from his hair and brought them between their bodies. He almost dropped her when she pushed him away, looking him firmly in the eyes._

_“Not tonight Minato, you’re drunk.”_

_He wanted to protest. He wasn’t drunk, and even if he was, it hadn’t stopped them last time. He was absolutely clear with his intentions of wanting to have her tonight. Before he could have his own word though, she took his hand and led him upstairs. A smirk played on his face, of course, he would enjoy it much more in the bedroom._

_As he walked though, his world began to spin. The alcohol was finally taking its effect and he could barely tell who it was anymore. When she finally brought him to the bed, he pulled her down with him so that her entire body weight was resting on top._

_With broken, drunken eyes, he looked at the girl on top of him. His sorrow suddenly making its way to the top again as he remembered how shitty his life was and how much he had missed the feeling of having her in his arms._

_“Minato.” She protested as she prompted herself up. She stared down at the tears that were now flowing from his eyes, blinding him even further._

_He brought a hand up to caress her face and her long locks of hair._

_“Kushina.”_

\---

He shook his head in disappointment at himself. He knew his drinking habit had suddenly gotten worse after everything in his life started piling up, and it was no excuse, but now, he was even more disheartened with the fact that his assistant had seen him wrecked, not once, but twice in just over two weeks, and he had most likely screwed everything up between them again.

The smell of fried eggs and bacon wafted into the hallway, distracting him from his thoughts and inviting him toward the kitchen. He hesitantly descended the stairs and made his way through the living room until he could see Ayane diligently cooking breakfast as she hummed along to the radio. 

Minato felt his heart rate quicken as he took a glimpse of the large white cotton t-shirt that hung down to mid-thigh. Her hair was still wavy from the night before, and was pulled up into a high ponytail. He caught a glimpse of her neck and shoulder and remembered having bit the side of her neck, causing her to moan and quiver under him the first night that they spent together. 

Noticing his thoughts wandering, he shook them away quickly, choosing instead to simply be grateful for the woman housing him for the night and taking care of him even outside of work hours. Still, he couldn’t help but wish that this is what he had woken up to the morning after their one night stand.

“You’re up! Good morning~” She sing-songed as she went to place two plates of breakfast on the dining table. “I made you your usual coffee, but I wasn’t sure, did you want something else to drink? Orange juice? Water?”

“Coffee is good.” Minato’s voice was raspy and cracked from dehydration, causing the assistant to giggle at the sound. A blushed formed on his cheeks as he walked to the table. “And maybe a glass of water.”

 _How was she doing this?_ Minato wondered. Had his memories been a dream or reality, because bless his assistant, she didn’t mention a single word to him and instead pretended like it didn’t happen. He tried to read her thoughts but she kept her expression hidden well. Maybe it was a dream, he figured because he would have hated being the one to hurt someone as beautiful and good as her.

For the most part, the two ate their meal in silence. Ayane had explained to him what had happened the night before, never once mentioning any physical or intimate encounters between them, and told him that she could drive him back to the restobar later to pick up his car. Minato simply “hmm”ed in response, distracted by the images of last night that still plagued his mind. 

Though he understood the need to maintain a business relationship, and already, they had broken the rules more than once, but part of him was selfishly enjoying every moment spent with her. He liked having company on a Saturday morning and not thinking about work. He liked having someone to eat breakfast with, even if it meant that conversations were limited. He had missed all of it.

“So, Mr. Namikaze,” Minato’s mood soured ever so slightly at the sound of his last name. Ayane placed her elbows on the table now that she was done with her food. “Tell me, why are you so adamant that you can’t go home, and why is your address on file not updated?”

“I’m sorry?” Minato couldn’t help but be taken aback by the sudden interrogation.

“Last night,” she explained. “Shikaku told me the address on file is old, and you kept insisting that you didn’t want to go home.”

With a heavy sigh, Minato took a sip of his coffee and wiped his lips before speaking. “The address on file is technically my primary address. My ex-fiance is currently living there. She hasn’t found a place to move to since we separated.”

“Oh…” Ayane was caught off guard by the sudden gravity of his words. She hadn’t expected the man to be as open as he was to her. In fact, she wasn’t even sure what she had done to even warrant hearing something so personal.

“Sorry, I didn’t know…” That was a lie. She did know. She had read in the headlines before that Minato had called off his wedding with his fiance for reasons unknown. It wasn’t confirmed though, so she hadn’t expected to hear it from the CEO himself. She remembered the picture on his desk and how happy he had looked in it, but now, she felt guilty for bringing up a painful past. 

“It’s okay,” Minato sighed, “I should have told you anyways.”

“So where are you staying now?” 

“In an apartment I rented downtown.” Minato replied. “It’s not the best place, but she didn’t work before so she doesn’t have much money to move out. I left her the house until she could support herself.”

Ayane furrowed her eyebrows in agitation. Even though she had never met the woman, it frustrated her beyond belief that Minato had to bend himself backwards to keep her satisfied even after they had already broken it off. Ayane had known from the first ten seconds of meeting the man that he was a push over so a sense of protectiveness overcame her as she wondered whether or not his ex was using him.

“You deserve better.” The words slipped from under her breath before she even realized it. Once she registered what she had said, she looked up in alarm. Despite all her thoughts, she wasn’t in a position to criticize the woman because she didn’t know anything about her.

To her surprise, she was met with a light chuckle and a warm grin from Minato. His eyes formed slight crescents as he looked fondly at the girl in front of him. 

“Thank you.”

\---

The weekend flew by much quicker than Ayane had wanted. She hated to admit it, but she actually enjoyed her time spent with Minato for the first part of Saturday. They spent the entire morning getting to know each other, though still on a surface level before she dropped him off to pick up his car. 

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing before finally, Monday hit and everything was back to normal. Ayane went to work, her heels echoing down the hallway as she clutched her work back under one arm. She passed by Rin who greeted her enthusiastically, before she made her way to her own desk. 

After settling in and dropping off her stuff, she made her way to Minato’s office to discuss the day’s schedule. That’s when she noticed that the glass wall behind her desk revealed a man in anguish as he paced back and forth in his office, speaking to someone on his work phone.

Out of concern, she quickly entered the room without knocking. It only took a few moments to catch onto who he was talking to. 

“I’m telling you, all those rumours are fake!” Minato all but shouted into the phone. There was a brief moment of silence before he yelled again. “What do you mean you have evidence? From who? I would like to speak to your manager about this.”

The CEO paused amongst his pacing when he caught a glimpse of the petite assistant standing there with a raised eyebrow. _Reporter,_ he mouthed. 

“I’m telling you, there is nothing to comment about. Kushina and I...No that is an unrelated matter.” When Minato began running his hand through his blonde locks in frustration, Ayane held out her hand for the phone. Without a doubtful look, he gave in and handed it to the petite girl who took it swiftly.

“Hello there, this is Mr. Namikaze’s public relations manager speaking. May I ask what the issue is here?” She spoke in a professional yet stern voice.

“What-I...I was just speaking to Mr. Namikaze himself-”

“I’m sorry. He’s busy at the moment.” 

There was a frustrated sigh on the other end before the man spoke up. “Rumours are going around that Mr. Namikaze had ended his relationship with Kushina Uzumaki after conning her and her uncle of his shares of the company. Do you have any comments about this?”

Ayane turned to Minato in anger, wondering why on Earth he hadn’t brought up the issue when they spoke about Kushina two days prior. 

“Listen here sir. Do you have proof of any of this? No right? Neither I nor Mr. Namikaze have any comments about this matter other than it is fake. Let me warn you though, should you publish this article, you will have a strong word with our legal department regarding the defamation and harassment of our CEO. Do you understand?”

“But we have sources-”

“I don’t care what type of sources you have. Now if you’ll excuse me, we are quite busy. Next time you have questions, please contact our public relations office instead. I will kindly direct your questions there. Have a good day.”

“Wait-” With that, Ayane hung up the phone without a further comment. She handed the phone back to Minato who took it hesitantly. A bewildered look was plastered on his face.

“What?” The petite girl asked. Minato only looked her up and down, and though she was only about 5 feet tall, the stilettos and the sudden demeanor caused him to be intimidated beyond belief.

“You….how…” He was speechless with the swiftness of her actions and the way that she handled the situation. Though he knew that she was good at what she did, he was impressed by the ease in which she handled the reporter.

Ayane shrugged, “It’s what I do. And you mister…”

She marched closer to the man, pointing a finger into his chest. Although Minato easily towered over her, she looked up at him with a sense of unwavering confidence. “For one, I don’t want you to waste your time answering those phone calls anymore. Direct them to me. And another thing....”

She paused, a sense of worry now returning to her. “When were you planning to tell me about this whole shares issue with your ex-fiance?”

Minato stepped forward, his actions gentle as he reached a hand out to touch Ayane’s upper arm. “Ayane, there’s nothing that happened. I acquired the sales legally.”

Ayane took a step backward, forcing Minato to drop his arm to his side once again. It was a brief reminder of the barrier that they had drawn before. “Minato, did you use Kushina Uzumaki in order to gain a majority share of the company?”

Hurt flashed through Minato’s eyes as Ayane repeated her question, showing clear apprehension in his words. He tried to step forward again but he could tell in the assistant’s eyes that her guard was up again after being lowered during their weekend together. “Ayane, I swear to you, I would never do something like that.”

“How long have these rumours been going on?” Ayane asked. She still wasn’t sure if she believed him, but she figured that her boss should probably get the benefit of the doubt.

“About two months.” Minato sighed, his head dropping at the painful reminder and the anxiety that had been plaguing his mind. “Ever since they discovered that Kushina and I separated.”

“Do you know who started it?” 

The blonde shook his head. “No, and it got so bad that my personal assistant quit because he couldn’t keep up with it. He foresaw it, the company going downhill because of me.”

“So then you hired me.” Her eyes softened as the man nodded. She understood why the CEO was so adamant on having her join the company now. Afterall, being bombarded with media, reporters, and fending off rumours was taxing on the system, nevermind being the center of it all. 

Ayane stepped up to him and brought one hand up to barely brush his cheeks. It was the most intimate they had been since their night together, but Ayane couldn’t help it as her body moved on its own. 

“We’ll figure it out,” she said softly. From up close, she could see the bags under his eyes caused by the stress and lack of sleep he must have been having. “Remember though, you promised me you would tell me everything.”

His ocean blue eyes met hers as he leaned into the warmth of her touch. It was something that he had missed, and he now realized he had been craving it starting from the months leading up to his break up. Finally, he felt right. 

“I will.”

A sudden knock on the door had Minato and Ayane jumping apart, their moment of intensity and affection dissipating between them. Ayane turned to face the entrance as Minato cleared his throat. 

“Come in!” He called.

Shikaku entered the room with a file in his hand. He eyed the two of them briefly but did not acknowledge the tension he felt in the room. Reaching forward, he gave the report to Minato. “The summary of the quarterly sales, and the projected sales of the coming quarter that you asked for.”

“Great.” Shikaku raised an eyebrow when Minato replied but didn’t make a move to accept the folder. Instead, the CEO turned to Ayane. “Ayane, do you mind giving it a readthrough and adding it into today’s meeting’s slideshow. I forwarded you the powerpoint already. I want you to present on it today if possible.”

Taken aback, the assistant's eyes scanned from Shikaku’s shocked expression to Minato’s soft grin and back again. She sure as hell didn’t see that coming, not that she hadn’t done something similar in the past, but she was still somewhat new to the company. 

“Minato I-”

“I forgot to tell you I actually have a meeting with the company lawyer today.” The CEO said, “He called this morning, and this sales meeting is urgent. We’ve already delayed it a week. Don’t worry, Shikaku will be there if you need him to bail you out.”

“Oh...I suppose I can do it.” With no other choice, Ayane gave in and accepted the folder from the scarred man. “I guess I’ll go work on this then. Let me know if you need anything.”

With a quick smile and a nod, Minato watched as the girl left his office. It was only then that he turned back to his financial advisor who had a smirk on his face and a playful glint in his eyes.

“So...what was that?” 

“Nothing,” Minato replied. He crossed his ankles and leaned back against his desk as he faced his best friend. A part of him already knew though, that he couldn’t hide anything from the man as he was an absolute analytical genius.

Shikaku rolled his eyes. “Minato, I don’t have a problem with you and her. In fact, if it makes you happy, go for it, but I think I should remind you that your office has glass walls. I could see it all from outside.”

“Duly noted.” His avoidance of the topic caused the dark haired man to frown.

“I’m serious. You might want to keep things on a down low for her sake and yours.” Shikaku crossed his arms, his forehead creasing in worry. “I just don’t think it’s the best time right now with everything going on.”

Minato sighed as he stood up straight again, his expression finally serious. “I know Shikaku, I know. Nothing’s going to happen, I promise.”

When Shikaku finally left while sporting an apologetic smile, Minato turned his gaze to Ayane whose back was to his office. He understood why his best friend was so protective of him, and he knew that both him and Ayane had made a deal to keep their relationship professional. So then why, he thought to himself, did he feel as if he had lost something dear to him?


	8. Chapter 8

Ayane spent the better part of the morning working diligently on preparing the presentation to the sales team while simultaneously fielding calls and organizing Minato’s schedule. The two didn’t speak much for the rest of the day, as they both chose to indulge in their work rather than to read into the moment they had shared earlier. 

After lunch, Ayane was ready. With her laptop in hand, she entered the meeting room and was met with the eyes of the sales manager, several of the company’s top sales representatives, and of course Shikaku. She gulped when she realized that many, if not all of them were older than her and of course, looking a lot more seasoned in their job.

“Good afternoon,” she greeted the unfamiliar crowd as she made her way to the front of the room. She eyed the chair at the head of the table and the one directly right of it where she was supposed to sit. Turning to Shikaku, he motioned for her to take Minato’s spot in his stead.

Ayane hesitantly rolled the chair back and took a seat, immediately feeling the tension in the room shift in response. She opened her laptop and projected the image onto the screen behind her before taking a sip of water and turning to the crowd.

“Good afternoon,” she repeated again, “my name is Ayane Higashi and I’m Mr. Namikaze’s new personal assistant. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to make the meeting today as he has another emergency commitment so he tasked me with leading today’s discussion.” 

She paused for a beat to scan the room, but as she expected, there wasn’t much of a response. 

“Anyways, let’s get started. Should you have any questions, I’m sure Mr. Nara and I can help clarify a few things at the end.” She turned to eye Shikaku who gave her an encouraging grin.

“I hope everyone had a chance to take a look at the sales summary that I sent out earlier today.” She switched the slide to show the stats of the company. “Mr. Namikaze and I would like to congratulate you all on completing the goal for this quarter! He says he is proud of the work and the effort that his employees put out, and can’t wait to see the company continuing to grow. However…”

Ayane paused to switch the slide again, showing the overall growth chart of the company since its conception. “If you take a closer look at this graph, we can begin to see that the sales, although making the projected goal, is slowly flattening on the curve overall.”

She hated this part of her speech and she had anticipated from the moment she read Shikaku’s report that she would be receiving criticism during this section. “What Mr. Namikaze has asked us to discuss today, is the projected sales for the future. Right now, it does not look like we will grow as a company for long-”

“With all due respect ma’am.” One of the older men who looked to be about in his 50s spoke up, causing the entire room to turn to him. “You have only been here for how long?”

“Two weeks,” Ayane replied with a strong tone of confidence. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch your name.”

“My name is Danzo Shimura. I am the Vice President of External Affairs.” The dark haired man spoke. The stern look on his face made Ayane wonder if he wore it every day, or if he was simply not pleased with her.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Shimura. Please, continue.” Ayane offered a smile despite the fact that the man seemed hostile against her. Perhaps it was the fact that she was new. Perhaps it was the fact that she was a young woman. Or perhaps it was the fact that she had an air of confidence to her that could easily be considered passive aggressive behaviour. Either way, she knew it was an uphill battle from here.

“You see Ms. Higashi, you have only been here for two weeks, how are you so certain that the drop in sales in connection with my employees?” Danzo said with his arms crossed smugly. The other sales managers also nodded in agreement with small whispers amongst themselves.

“That’s a good question. You see, in the details of the reports, you would be able to see each team’s sales history. While our representatives have been doing a great job satisfying our old customers and expanding business with them, we are lacking in gaining new clients.” Ayane replied, switching to a slide that had a clear outline of their biggest business partners versus their new ones.

“Nonetheless, Mr. Namikaze wanted to call you all here today to discuss future plans for marketing and possibly expanding more into the international market-”

“I’m sorry Ms. Higashi, you might have misunderstood what I meant.” Danzo stood, his palms pressed against the table to support himself. He turned around to look at each member around the table before he continued. “I am saying our sales have been affected by the rumours and allegations surrounding Mr. Namikaze himself.”

Ayane and Shikaku both froze. They exchanged eye contact as discreetly as possible, both wondering how on Earth Danzo knew and how much he knew. The last thing that Ayane wanted was for panic to ensue in the company even for those who were supporting them lower in the ladder. A lack of trust in leadership meant downfall even for the biggest companies in the world.

Gathering her thoughts in mere seconds, Ayane remained composed, at least from the outside. She took another sip from her water and took a moment to tie her hair up in a high ponytail despite the expectant eyes on her. Looking up, she scanned the crowd before speaking.

“I understand that you all have doubts about Mr. Namikaze, but I assure you, handling the press is my specialty. In the meantime, I hope that you all can trust in Mr. Namikaze and I, and should you have any concerns we encourage you to contact us directly.” Ayane turned to Danzo and leaned back in her chair to cross her arms.

“Now, in regards to whether or not the sales this past quarter has been impacted by the CEO himself: you’re right, I’m not sure. Probably. However, even before these two months of rumours, the sales team was tasked with creating a plan of action for the expansion into the international market.” She turned to the rest of the team who froze in their spots, clearly having dropped the ball on the report. 

“May I ask, Mr. Shimura, did the team not complete it? Or did the email get lost between yourself and Mr. Namikaze? I have asked him earlier, he had never received the plan of action, not in his records at least.”

The older man’s wrinkles creased further, his frown deepening at the research presented by the new assistant. Ayane simply smiled in return at the man’s silence before she decided to jump in and save him from his own associates’ lurking eyes.

“Nonetheless, Mr. Namikaze has simply requested that the plan of action be completed within the coming week so that we can begin to expand as soon as possible into the global market. He has emphasized that within the coming months, he hopes to not only satisfy our existing customers, but he would like to see competitive growth elsewhere as well, otherwise we would truly be falling behind to our competitors.” 

Ayane watched as the older man took a seat. His eyes were closed and his expression defeated as he responded. “I will make sure that will happen.”

“Great! I am looking forward to seeing the report in my inbox come next Monday for review.” Ayane replied with finality. 

This caused Danzo’s eyebrows to twitch. “But we always send our reports to Mr. Namikaze himself.”

“That’s a good point,” Ayane replied. “Mr. Namikaze has requested that I take charge of the revisions, and to only pass it along once it has been approved. Don’t worry, Mr. Nara and I will work in tandem to approve your reports.”

“That’s ridiculous!” One of the sales managers stood up, as he glared at the lady in anger. “You’ve only been with us for two weeks! What right do you have to approve our work? Do you even have experience in our field? I refuse to report to someone like you!”

Ayane was taken aback, letting her strong persona falter for a moment as she hadn’t expected direct rebellion quite yet. Before she could counter though, the door to the conference room opened, drawing the attention to all eyes in the room. Everyone stood in unison as did Ayane to greet the newcomer.

“Good afternoon, sir!” 

Minato stood at the door with a scowl on his face that was quite uncharacteristic of him. He couldn’t help it though, as he had heard the final exchange just before entering the room.

“Do we have a problem here Ms. Higashi?” Minato asked. Though his question was directed at her, his eyes scanned the room before finally falling on the sales manager that had just spoken up.

“No sir, we were just finishing up.” Ayane replied.

The frown on Minato’s face didn’t cease despite her reassurance. He stepped forward to stand behind the chair that was originally his assistant’s, ignoring his own rightful spot at the head of the table.

“Ms. Higashi is very experienced with the cyber technology and security business in our country and around the world so I have no worries about her capabilities, and neither should you.” The CEO spoke to the crowd with a charisma that was even stronger than Ayane’s own. In an instant, the tension in the room had diffused and all eyes were trained respectfully onto him.

“Ms. Higashi is a direct representative of mine. I have my utmost trust in her, and anything she says, goes. Should you have an issue with that, you can take it up with me.” Minato said, his words finalized, causing the room to either nod or drop their heads in submission.

“With that being said, I would like to thank you all for your hard work thus far. If you need any help whatsoever, please do not hesitate to ask as this is what your superiors are for, to help you grow in your field. Afterall, I too wouldn’t have been able to get to where I am today without the help of my own mentors such as Mr. Shimura himself.” The older man seemed to soften a bit, at his words. 

With another one of his warm smiles, he addressed the rest of the room. “I’m looking forward to another great quarter with you all. Please continue to work hard, and thank you for supporting the company and supporting me.” 

Minato’s smile was contagious as he thanked the members around the table. Ayane watched in awe as peoples’ eyes seemed to sparkle with him around, and their own smiles returned to their faces. 

She too, finally let out a breath of relief, thanking the heavens that the meeting was over and she could finally move on from the entire ordeal. A grin spread across her face as she took a quick glance at Minato and mentally sent a thank you in the CEO’s direction.

\---

The next day, Ayane arrived at work in the same manner. The click of her heels echoed in the parking lot after she had parked her Tesla in the underground parking. As she rode the elevator up to the office, she readied herself for the day, running the schedule in her mind as she went.

Due to her preoccupied thoughts, she didn’t notice at first that something was wrong, but it didn’t take long. Others who had joined her in the elevator had begun to stare at her in a way that attempted to be discrete, but failed. By the time she had reached her floor and Rin had greeted her with good morning and an awkward smile, she knew something was the matter. 

On her guard, Ayane made her way to her desk and set her things down before knocking on Minato’s door to debrief with him. It took a moment longer than usual, but eventually, his voice rang through, “come in!”

When the door was opened, she realized that Hiashi Hyuuga, the CFO of the company was standing in front of Minato’s desk, a deep frown featured on his face. Shivering, Ayane turned back to Minato who also looked stressed.

“Sorry for interrupting. I just wanted to go through the day’s schedule with you, but I can come back.” Ayane apologized quickly.

With a quick glance at his watch, Minato spoke, “it’s that time already? Wow. We’ll just finish up here. Can you grab me a coffee Ayane?” When the assistant nodded, he turned to the CFO who failed to hide his discontent for the girl. “Anything for you Hiashi?”

“No, I’ll be fine.” His comment was cold and dismissive, sending chills down Ayane’s spine.

“Thank you,” Minato said, a soft smile on his face. 

Ayane bowed politely and made her way to the staff lounge to grab a coffee. The day was just about to begin so the room had a few patrons, each looking for their morning breakfast and caffeine fix. 

As the coffee was brewing and Ayane made her way to the snack table, she heard the hushed voices of people seated in the corner, who had barely tried to conceal their thoughts. 

“That’s her.” One of the women said. Ayane could tell with a quick glance that they were all a bit older than her, possibly in their early 30s.

“They’re right, she’s gorgeous.” The man said, a smile evident even from his voice alone. Ayane felt repulsed by the way she felt his eyes scanning her up and down.

“How else did you think she got her job?” The third, a woman replied in contempt. “My boyfriend works in sales. He said she was a total bitch during their meeting yesterday.”

“I heard they’re sleeping together.” The first replied. “Her and the CEO. He even gave her the fancy car she’s driving.” 

“Damn.” The man whispered under his breath. 

The entire time, Ayane held her tongue, refusing to fall to her angry impulses and defending herself. Had she been a bitch the day before? Maybe, but with the amount of eye rolling and disrespect going on, she had to stand her ground. 

The only thing she hated though, was the fact that they questioned her credibility. That was exactly why she didn’t want to accept the expensive gifts that Minato offered. Now that the rumours were starting, she wondered how long it would be before she would be removed from the company just when she was beginning to enjoy her time there. She began to not only worry about her job, but worry about the future of Minato’s reputation and the impact on his company as well. 

When the coffee was finished, she quickly grabbed the mug and filled it to the brim, adding just the slightest splash of milk to Minato’s taste. She grabbed a pastry for herself and one for Minato, and hurriedly made her way out of the lounge, stopping just momentarily to glare at the table there. They turned away, as did she before the automatic door slid open and she walked back to Minato’s office.

Though she was only gone for a few minutes, Hiashi was just leaving the office when she arrived. His eyes lingered on her in distaste before he walked off. 

“Come in,” Minato held the door open for her and his voice was as gentle as ever which made Ayane just want to break down and destress in his arms.

Walking into the modernized office, Ayane placed Minato’s coffee and breakfast on the table while holding onto hers. Minato watched as she faltered slightly in her steps, something she had never done before despite the 4 inch stilettos she sported every day.

He closed the door behind them, and watched as she sat and slumped in her seat. Her usual morning energy was gone making him wonder if something was wrong. However, everything else seemed normal. His coffee was made with perfection, and as she pulled out her iPad to go over his schedule, she was productive and professional as ever. In the end, he decided that maybe his eyes were deceiving him so he let it go.

It wasn’t until later on in the afternoon, after lunch, that he realized her mood had gotten even worse. He had asked her to go down to the canteen to bring him back some food, and when she returned, rather than sitting down and having lunch with him as she often did, she excused herself to go do work at her desk.

Ayane’s mood had clearly continued to sour throughout the day and she looked more drained than usual. Everytime Minato talked to her, she seemed to reply in brief sentences. In fact, she seemed to avoid him almost entirely, never lingering more than necessary in his office. The CEO spent the last hour of the day wondering what had gone wrong and whether or not it was something that he did.

His thoughts were confirmed when Ayane came to his office at the end of the day at a time where she usually said her goodbyes. This time though, when she came in, she walked up to his desk and placed her palm down, leaving an object on the glass surface.

With wide eyes he stared at the key to the Tesla sitting on the table before turning up to look at her. 

“Thank you for the car, Mr. Namikaze, but I decided I don’t want it anymore.” She spoke first. “I’m going to return this to you now. I don’t want people in the company to misunderstand. You already pay me well enough, I can buy my own car.”

Minato blinked once, and then twice, before he realized what she had intended. Confusion overcame him because he hadn’t realized the car was a problem, in fact, it wasn’t before. So why was it a problem now?

He stood up and approached the girl, who took a step backward, putting up her hands defensively to create a barrier between them. His eyes softened as the pain of her rejection was reflected in it.

“Ayane, what’s the matter? This wasn’t a problem before.” Minato wanted really badly to reach out and caress her face or her waist, as it only seemed natural to ease whatever concerns she had, but he couldn’t.

“The problem is that people are misunderstanding our relationship,” she replied. “Rumours are going around the company that we are seeing each other. They think that you hired me because we are sleeping together! I don’t want you to be my sugar daddy, Mr. Namikaze. So let’s just leave it like that.”

Minato furrowed his eyebrows. “Who is saying stuff like that?”

“I don’t know!” The frustration that had built up from the entire day had suddenly combusted as Ayane lashed out unintentionally at the man. “Some people in the staff lounge, the sales team, people in the canteen. I don’t know! By tomorrow everyone will know.”

Minato stepped forward, using his long legs to close the distance in a mere second. His hand reached out to caress her upper arm. She tried to flinch away but he held on. “Ayane, rumours are rumours. They will happen. The important thing is though, no one really knows what happened between us and they won’t. Not to mention, they’re only starting this gossip because they’re jealous of you.”

Her warm brown eyes widened, looking up at the taller man as her guard seemed to slip a bit. “Jealous of me?”

Minato chuckled, “yes, of you. The women are jealous of your looks and of your power. The men are jealous of your experience and capabilities.”

“Still,” she countered though her face was tinted pink from the CEO’s compliments. “I don’t want these rumours around. They’re not going to help in the long run with your reputation. Also, if word gets out to other companies (even if they are false), clients and stockholders will not take you seriously.”

“Are you worried about me?” His smile grew wider as he took another step forward, and her backward, until finally, her back met the closed door. “Ayane, thank you for the concern. I know it’s your job, but you don’t need to protect me day in and day out. I’m used to this. People have been talking crap behind my back ever since I joined the company and began climbing. Afterall, I’m a 30 year old CEO of a huge company. You don’t exactly get here unscathed of rumours and gossip.”

“Just...let me get my own car.” She placed a palm on his chest. Whether the intention was to maintain what little distance was left between them, or the feel his warmth under her fingertips, she wasn’t sure. “I don’t want to be dependent on you, or for others to see things the wrong way.”

With a heavy sigh, Minato’s grasp lightened on her arm, his form defeated. “Fine,” he conceded. “But until you do, you can keep the Tesla to use. I don’t want you bussing to and from work everyday.”

Ayane rolled her eyes. “Minato-”

“Not to mention, I need you to pick up an important client from the airport on Friday. It’s during the workday so I have a meeting to attend to before then so unfortunately I can’t do it myself.” Minato’s voice left little room for negotiation. 

Ayane too, finally let her guard down as she relaxed for the first time all day. For some reason, Minato’s presence seemed to do that to her even though the problem was regarding him to begin with.

“Okay,” she said. A small smile was present on her face because she truly felt that she had gotten her point across. It was easier than she had expected.

With a reassuring look, Minato stepped back. The lingering feeling of his fingers on her arm had her longing for more, but she shook the thought away. She watched as the CEO made his way to his table and turned off his own work computer. He grabbed his belongings and the car key that was left on his desk before walking back to his assistant.

“Let’s go home.” He suggested as he handed the key back to her. Once she had accepted it, he grabbed his jacket and turned to the door. As his hand rested on the doorknob, he turned back to the petite girl who was waiting expectantly.

“Just so you know,” he said, “I hired you because you’re smart, you have amazing experience, and a great work ethic. Now that I’ve seen how you work and what you can do, I’m even more glad that you’re here.”

As Minato continued to walk down the hall, Ayane quickly grabbed her stuff from her desk and stumbled after him. This time though, it wasn’t her anger or anxiety that had her staggering, but his words of compliment and reassurance that made her stomach flutter.


	9. Chapter 9

“Are you on your way there now?” Minato’s voice rang through her car system as Ayane drove through the airport traffic to find a parking spot.

“I’m there already. Just parking and then heading in.” Ayane replied as she turned into the closest spot she could find. 

She was on her way to pick up Mr. Chen, a client from China who was the CEO of one of the biggest hotel chains in Asia. They had agreed to meet with Minato to discuss a possible future collaboration in which Uzumaki Tech would be in charge of their cybersecurity as well as setting them up with the newest technology available in their hotels.

On the way there, Minato had called to check in despite the fact that Ayane was well ahead of schedule and knew precisely where to go.

“You know, you should really get back to work.” Ayane scolded as she grabbed her bag and slipped the phone between her shoulder and neck. Using her free hand, she closed the door and watched as it automatically locked.

“I know. I’m just nervous, that’s all. This sales is huge.” Minato replied, the anxiousness in his voice was evident even over the phone as he showed his vulnerability to his assistant.

“Listen,” Ayane’s heels clicked along the parking lot as she made her way to the arrivals. “You have a meeting to attend to in ten minutes. Afterwards, we will go to the office and present as planned. We’ll go have lunch with the old man, and then all is done. It will go well, don’t worry.”

“Easy for you to say,” Minato groaned. “Did you know they’re hearing multiple offers while they’re here in Japan? This is only stage one! What if we mess it up?”

Pausing in her steps, Ayane let out a deep breath. “Mr. Namikaze- Minato, listen. The only real competitor you have is Akatsuki Inc., and I already know for a fact that our tech beats the shit out of theirs and their sales team sucks without me.”

She could hear Minato chuckling on the other side from her self-confident speech. A smile also appeared on her face knowing that she was able to cheer the man up a bit. “I promise you, it will go fine. Just concentrate on what you have to do, and then I’ll meet you back in the office in an hour.”

“Okay.” Ayane couldn’t help but grin because she could hear the pout in Minato’s voice. The older man, though chalked full of charisma in front of others, was unusually open when speaking with her. “Drive safely.”

“Thank you. Good luck with Hiashi.” Another chuckle escaped her when Minato groaned dramatically on the other end. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

As Ayane hung up and continued toward the building, she couldn’t help but have a little extra bounce in her step. Her mood lightened drastically after her call with Minato in a way that she couldn’t even explain. It was then that she knew it was going to be a good day.

\---

On the way back to the office, she made small talk with the Chinese CEO and his assistant, even utilizing the Mandarin that she had taught herself during her time as a sales associate. She thanked the heavens that she was sitting in the front seat while the other two were in the back because she fought desperately to hide the scowl that was on her face.

Mr. Chen was an older man, in fact, probably old enough to be her father. From the moment that she picked him up to the entire time spent in the car, Ayane could feel his stares lingering on her body, often in places that made her the most uncomfortable. 

Though his looks left her with a bitter taste in her mouth and venomous words that were threatening to escape, she was well acquainted with the business world enough to ignore it and move on. Afterall, she knew fully well that each and every one of her actions represented Minato, whether it was negative or positive. 

“Mr. Chen! Welcome to our company!” Ayane watched as Minato shook the man’s hand and spoke with absolute fluency. He was clad in a navy suit which was tailored perfectly to his body, emphasizing his long legs and well-built body. Professionalism oozed from his smile and posture, making Ayane wonder how on Earth the CEO could carry such perfection with him.

“Thank you for inviting me,” the older man accepted the gesture. “This is my assistant Zhou Jie.” 

Minato turned to offer a polite handshake to the assistant who must have still been a couple years older than himself. “Nice to meet you, assistant Zhou. Now please, if you would follow me this way.”

Ayane shivered when she felt the old man’s eyes on her as he extended a hand forward. “You first, milady,” he said.

Suddenly alert, Minato turned to take a quick glance between his client and the look of disgust Ayane was struggling to hide before he extended his own arm behind her. His hand hovered lightly on the small of her back as he guided her forward to walk next to him. 

Ayane, who had been cautious of her proximity to her boss ever since the rumours began, suddenly felt at home in his arms, even if it was the slightest of touches. As she stuck by Minato’s side and listened absentmindedly to his tour of the building, she imagined herself tucked in his arms, loving the way her body fit perfectly against his longer, lean figure. The image of them together made her heart flutter and a secret smile to appear on her face.

\---

The meeting went well with the Chinese CEO. Danzo and his team had prepared the presentation and in their usual manner. The conference room was packed with sales representatives along with the two CEOs themselves. Mr. Chen seemed impressed throughout the entire sales pitch, often nodding and even smiling at the words being said. It wasn’t until the end of the presentation though, that Minato finally seemed at ease with the results of the meeting.

“Everything looks good! Mr. Namikaze, your team put together a superb presentation.” Mr. Chen exclaimed, his expression pleased. “I would love to work with your team, of course, I need to listen to a few other offers first while on this trip, but if we could, I would like to invite you to Shanghai so we can discuss this with our board of directors and other executives as well.”

Minato’s face lit up at the opportunity. “Yes I would love to!” Turning to his assistant, he spoke. “Ayane, when is our first availability?”

Ayane paused to look up Minato’s schedule. A frown was prominent on her face as she scrolled through, looking for the first available set of dates that would work. “It would have to be in about a month’s time,” she said hesitantly. 

She knew that Minato wouldn’t be pleased as the longer the gap, meant a higher chance of losing the offer to another company. To her surprise, Mr. Chen smiled, and turned to his own assistant, speaking in Mandarin. “Great! Zhou Jie, make a note to contact the directors to set up a date. Afterwards, contact Ms. Higashi here to make arrangements. We will accommodate them at one of our hotels. Make sure they get the best of the best.”

“Yes, sir.” 

While the rest of the room seemed lost in translation, Minato and Ayane exchanged looks of shock, but at the same time, glimmering excitement. Perhaps it was the fact that the old man was clearly smitten by her, or maybe the sales pitch truly seemed desirable to him, but regardless of the reasoning, they were grateful for the special treatment.

\---

After the conference and having lunch with Mr. Chen himself, they bid their goodbyes and headed back to work. Minato called together the same group of sales members to discuss the next part of the business plan.

“Thank you all for your hard work,” Minato started, looking around the conference room at his employees. “I know this presentation was last minute, but you guys blew me away, and Mr. Chen let me know during our lunch together that he was impressed with our company’s products and hard work.”

“It’s not over yet though. As you all heard during the end of the meeting, in a month’s time, we will be heading to China to present to their board of directors and executives. That presentation is especially important because it means we would be going up against other top competitors who Guang Xing Company is also considering.”

Minato paused and took a glance at his assistant who looked back at him with confused eyes. He then turned to look at Danzo who held a smug look on his face after being complimented on his team’s efforts.

“In a month’s time, Ayane will be the one to present the sales pitch to Guang Xing. She and I will be the ones to go to China to meet their board of directors.” 

Ayane felt her body go numb as she took in Minato’s words. Her head started spinning as the room suddenly became a riot around her with displeased sales managers and an equally enraged Danzo. With panicked eyes, she turned to Minato who struggled to calm the room despite his usual dominance.

“You can’t do that! Mr. Namikaze! With all due respect, this is our client and our presentation!” 

“Her again? What good is she?”

“She doesn’t know anything about our sales and products!”

“Shouldn’t Mr. Shimura be the one to go?”

“Minato!” The room suddenly fell silent as Danzo slammed a palm onto the table. He glared daggers at the CEO in front of him. “What is the meaning of this? Our team worked their asses off to prepare for today’s meeting. They are the one that knows this proposition best. How can you suddenly entrust this to _her?!_ ”

Minato, who had sat back and took all the shots with his eyes closed, finally looked up when the room had died down. His blue eyes were rimmed with intensity as he looked at the VP of External Affairs. 

“I understand that your team was the one in charge of putting the presentation together. In fact, they can continue to work with Ms. Higashi on it. However, must I remind you Danzo, no one on your team, not even yourself, is capable of speaking fluent English or Mandarin. How do you propose we solve this problem before our next meeting?”

Once again, Danzo was left speechless. He was unable to come up with a solution, leaving him to hang his head in defeat. “You’re right.” He conceded, though an apology was far from the list of things he planned to say.

“So it’s been decided then. One or two of you will work closely with Ms. Higashi to prepare the presentation in the coming month. Ms. Higashi will now be put in charge of this client’s case. If there’s nothing else, I would like to call it a day. Thank you for all your hard work.”

With that, the room had been dismissed, many of them sending a lingering glare in Ayane’s direction before they walked past the glass door. None of them particularly bothered Ayane until she saw the way Danzo was looking at her with contempt on his way out. She felt shivers going down her spine as they made eye contact. 

It wasn’t until the two were left alone, that Ayane turned to Minato with a deep frown etched on her face. “Why do you always do this?”

“Do what?” Minato seemed genuinely shocked that his assistant seemed agitated.

“Why do you insist on making me a target?!” Ayane exclaimed. Her true fears were coming out now as she faced the CEO in open rebellion, something she couldn’t do with others around. “I’m already on everyone’s radar because of the rumours about us. Now you want to give me special treatment in front of everyone! I’m not a salesman, I don’t even know what to do about the upcoming presentation. Yet instead of giving it to someone like Danzo, who clearly hates me already, you decide to put another target on my back!”

Minato stared blankly at the girl next to him as tears of frustration began to bloom from her eyes. It took everything in his power to respect her boundaries, and not reach out and pull her into his arms in comfort. “That wasn’t my intention.” His voice came out almost like a whisper.

Ayane scoffed. “I’m sure it wasn’t, but have you ever considered the consequences of your actions before you do them? Have you ever thought about my position?”

“I only wanted to give you the opportunity to learn more things!” He insisted. “I knew you would do the job best. I wouldn’t give you the job unless I had confidence in you.”

Ayane gripped her long hair in frustration, “that’s not the point!”

“Then what is?!” Minato was starting to lose his patience now too, in a way that he never thought he would with her. 

“The point is that I don’t want to be the centre of attention, Minato! I don’t want everyone’s eyes on me. I don’t want people to think that you treat me any more special than others, and I don’t want people to think we have some sort of relationship!” She blew up. Her fears and tribulations were all out on the table now. As silence ensued and she caught her breath, she continued in a softer tone, almost begging. “I just want to do my job and go home. I like this job Minato, please don’t make me leave it.”

The CEO watched as all the emotions washed through her, her warm eyes filled with anger, then fear, and then defeat. His heart wrenched as he observed the way he had affected her, knowing that his own decisions were the cause of it all. 

“There’s nothing between us, so no one is going to find anything out." The pain in his voice was evident as he reminded himself of the truth.

“But even if they did..” He stepped forward, despite her guarded reaction toward him, and used one hand to brush a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He trapped a tear under his thumb and lightly wiped it aside. “Even if they did, I promise you, I will protect you.”

Ayane felt her resolve diminishing at the reassurance of his words. Her body relaxed at his touch, and she cursed the fluttering in her heart and the familiarity of his warmth. Minato was looking at her with the same eyes that he did the first night that they spent together, ones that made her feel loved and important. She felt herself falling for him, despite her greatest efforts. 

“Don’t do this to me,” she pleaded, looking him in the eyes.

“I can’t help it, I’m sorry.” Minato apologized because he himself couldn’t resist her. Despite all the shit that was going on in his life, she was his only light. 

Breaking the trance, the CEO dropped his arm and returned to the topic at hand. “So, will you take this client for me?”

With a deep sigh, Ayane gave in. “I’ll do it, but no more after this.”

A smile, brighter than the sun, lit up on Minato’s face. “Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Ayane couldn’t help but smile with him, wondering at the back of her mind how on Earth she caved so easily to the man in front of her.


	10. Chapter 10

When Ayane arrived at work Monday morning, there was a man around her age leaning against her desk. He had silver hair and a lean physique that rivalled that of Minato’s, in fact, his looks overall seemed to rival Minato’s as well. He donned a light grey dress shirt and black dress pants, and was playing with the cuffs of his sleeves when Ayane approached him.

“Um...good morning.” The assistant wasn’t sure if she should have been weary or welcoming to the new presence. 

“Good morning Ms. Higashi,” the stranger said. He bowed politely before introducing himself. “My name is Kakashi Hatake. I’ve been sent by Mr. Shimura to aid you with the Guang Xing case.”

“Oh!” Ayane exclaimed in shock as she gave a once over of the man. She was sure Danzo would have sent one of his higher up sales managers who were all around Minato’s age or older, but this one she hadn’t even seen at any of the meetings before. “Sorry, I didn’t know you would be coming today.” 

“That’s quite alright! Is there anything I can help you with this morning?” He looked around the desk, unsure of where to position himself or where to begin.

“Actually, I usually meet with Mr. Namikaze first thing in the morning.” She turned briefly to check if Minato was in the office, and sure enough, he was sitting behind his desk, working on his computer. “If you want to come back later…”

“Oh…” Kakashi placed his hand awkwardly behind his head as he looked down at the girl in front of him. “Mr. Shimura actually relieved me of all my duties except for this case. He instructed me to stay with you so…”

Alarms of suspicion immediately rang in Ayane’s mind. Never had she heard of a regular salesman of a large business being assigned only one case to follow. In fact, she wondered why the man couldn’t work remotely and had to be sticking with her the whole day. Of course, she was in no position to challenge the words of a higher ranked VP, and Kakashi seemed nice enough as it was. With a quick look around, she cleared off the end of her desk and got him situated with a chair.

“You can take a seat there for now,” she said with a friendly smile. “Just relax for a bit. I’ll go talk to Mr. Namikaze and see if we can arrange a desk for you here.”

The male simply nodded and made his way to his new seat. As Ayane began to walk away, he pulled out his laptop and began to type on it. 

Ayane walked to the lounge and fixed Minato a cup of coffee before returning to his office. She knocked on his door and entered when he replied from the other end.

“Good morning!” Minato’s smile was contagious as he greeted his assistant. Ayane noticed that lately, the man seemed to be looking a lot more energized in the morning, as if he was finally getting enough sleep during the night.

“Good morning,” Ayane grinned in return. She set his coffee on his desk for him and pulled out her iPad which contained the day’s schedule. “Today is a pretty smooth day. You have a meeting with Shikaku in the morning and some time off before lunch. Afterwards you have a meeting with the legal department in the afternoon.”

Minato groaned at the mention of his legal department. The department was headed by Hiruzen Sarutobi, who acted exactly as his age: old and wise, but also quite stern. He hated speaking with him because while he kept his company out of trouble, he was also like a nagging parent, often chastising him for rumours or things that he never did. 

“I can’t stand the old man sometimes. It’s like he’s always watching my every move.” Minato whined. 

“He means well,” Ayane chuckled. She rarely sat in on legal meetings as it often did not concern her or there wasn’t much significance, but whenever she saw Mr. Sarutobi, she always saw how much he cared for Minato in his eyes. 

“Speaking of being watched…” The tone in Ayane’s voice had Minato’s smile disappearing as he met the assistant’s eyes in concern. Ayane turned to take a quick glance out the glass wall at the silver-haired shinobi who was sitting at her desk. “Did Danzo tell you anything about this guy?”

Minato took a glimpse at the male and furrowed his eyebrows. “Yes, he did say he was going to send someone, but I’ve never seen this guy before. What’s his name?”

“Kakashi Hatake.” 

“I see. I guess I’ll run a background check on him.” Minato took another look at him before his expression changed into something unreadable. “Why is he at your desk?”

“Right, that’s what I was going to ask you. He said Danzo asked him to stay with me and work from my office. He said he was only assigned this case to look after-”

“That’s suspicious,” Minato pointed out. 

“I know.” Ayane turned to check on the silver-haired man before looking back at the CEO in front of her. “But he seems harmless enough. I was wondering if I can arrange to get a desk set up for him. There’s some room between my desk and the window.”

“Sure,” Minato reluctantly agreed. It’s not that he had anything against the newcomer overall, it’s just that he was used to only having him and Ayane on their spacious floor (with the exception of Rin of course, who sat around the corner in the elevator). 

“Awesome.” Ayane straightened up and took a step back. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be back in a bit to take minutes for you and Shikaku. I’ll just get Kakashi started on the presentation first.”

“Alright, thanks Ayane.” Minato replied.

Ayane sent him a quick wink before turning in her heels and walking out of the office. 

Minato couldn’t help but keep an eye on her as she walked back to her desk. He watched as she approached Kakashi with a wide grin and leaned over his shoulder to take a look at his computer. The CEO figured the man had the presentation pulled up as Ayane reached over his shoulder to grab ahold of the mouse and clicked a few things. She pointed some areas out on each of the slides and continued to advise the salesman on his job. 

Kakashi seemed to keep his cool despite the proximity of Naome’s body behind his. Minato knew from the man’s features that he was clearly well-put together despite being in his mid-twenties. From the perspective of his suitors, the younger man probably oozed sex appeal based on the way his forearms muscles showed from his rolled up sleeves, and the long legs that easily rivaled his own. 

Although Ayane seemed oblivious to all of that, Minato still couldn’t help but imagine the two of them together.

He was so distracted by the interaction of the two, that he didn’t even notice his door had been opened, and another presence filled the room. 

“You are going to bore a hole in that young man’s head if you keep glaring at him like that.” Minato jumped up to find his best friend standing with his usual snarking smirk in front of his desk.

“Who’s glaring?” 

“You,” Shikaku replied as he took a seat on a chair across from the blonde. “It’s _glaringly_ obvious that you are jealous of that guy. Who is he anyways?”

Minato shrugged. “Beats me. Danzo sent him here to work on a foreign sales proposal with Ayane.”

“How long will he be here?”

“Probably a month.” Minato tried to be nonchalant about it, but he couldn’t help but steal glances in his assistant’s direction.

Shikaku let out a long whistle. “A month. That’s going to be a long time for someone so jealous.”

“For the last time, I’m not jealous.” Minato turned to the dark haired man with a scowl. “We don’t have any type of relationship.”

“Just because you’re not in a relationship doesn’t mean you don’t like her.” Shikaku countered. He watched as his best friend took a glance at a picture that was in the corner of his desk, almost hidden by his monitor. Having been in the office multiple times, he knew what, or better yet, who that picture was of.

“When was the last time you’ve seen her?” Shikaku nodded toward the picture, and they could both tell that the conversation had moved on to another woman now.

“Not since I moved out,” Minato replied.

“You going to go back?”

Minato’s eyes dropped as he fiddled with the pen in his hands. “I don’t intend to.”

The disapproving frown on Shikaku’s face said it all. It made Minato feel like a little child being scolded all over again. “You’re not going to get closure if you just leave things like this. She deserves better. _You_ deserve better. Do you still love her?”

“I-”

There was a knock on the door, and the men already knew who it was. Feeling a rush of relief as he was able to escape the topic at hand, Minato quickly called for Ayane to come in. With one last glance at Minato, Shikaku pulled out his laptop and opened it to the file of discussion.

Ayane pulled the remaining chair next to Minato and pulled open notes of her own. “Sorry for the delay! I got caught up with explaining the new proposal template to Kakashi. Shall we get started?”

“Sure.” Shikaku replied in almost a deadpanned tone. He was looking at Minato for an answer.

Minato, who had almost spaced out completely, jumped when he felt and saw warm brown eyes searching his. 

“You ready?” she asked. 

“Y-yeah.” Tearing his gaze away, Minato turned back to his notes. For the rest of the meeting, he continued to keep his eyes down, avoiding Shikaku’s knowing smirk for the entire hour.

\---

Throughout the next few weeks, Minato tried to pay no heed to Ayane and the new salesman that was now sharing their floor. It was difficult though, because their usually quiet floor seemed to be livelier than usual. Conversations used to be limited between them as Ayane would normally only enter his office if they had an appointment or if she needed to discuss something work related. Now though, she had other company.

Kakashi was quiet for the first week, never really speaking unless he had a question or was spoken to, but as time went on, Minato noticed him opening up to the assistant. Nowadays, Kakashi and Ayane would speak throughout the day and Minato had doubts that it was all about work. He even began to see Rin popping in from time to time to chat with the duo, leaving only him out of the picture.

That changed when one day Ayane came knocking on his door unexpectedly. When she came in, she didn’t have her iPad or laptop with her, meaning the conversation was likely not about work.

“What’s up?” Minato asked, leaning on his elbows. His usual smile was on his face and he amused himself with the way she still blushed whenever she maintained eye contact with him.

“Kakashi, Rin, and I were thinking of going out for lunch at a cafe down the block. I just thought I’d invite you if you want to come.” Ayane seemed to fiddle with the end of her shirt as she spoke. Minato could tell by taking a glance out his glass walls, and looking at the nervousness of the assistant in front of him, that it was more likely than not, her idea.

“Nah, it’s okay. I don’t want to make things awkward for you guys,” Minato said. He looked over at Kakashi who was tidying up his desk for his lunch break. “Besides, I have work to do.”

The frown on Ayane’s face could be spotted from across the room. She crossed her arms and contemplated for a brief second before her heels began clicking. Minato’s eyes widened in bewilderment as his assistant marched up to his desk and took his forearm in her hands. He let himself be pulled into a standing position, only growing in amusement at the way she tried to exude a sense of dominance over him.

“You have all day to do your work. You need to get out of your office more,” Ayane nagged. A bright smile appeared on her face upon seeing Minato’s reluctancy fade. Using his free hand, he grabbed his phone and wallet from the top of his desk and tucked it into his pants pocket. “Come on!”

Unbeknownst to her, Minato was grinning widely the entire time she led her out. Although his intention wasn’t to interrupt his staffs’ lunch get together, he couldn’t help but succumb to her request. It was one of the rarer times where Ayane actually wanted to speak with him outside of work.

“Okay! We’re ready! Let’s go!” The assistant announced once she got back to her desk. Minato blushed as he could feel the eyes of Kakashi and Rin staring back at him. Ayane looked between the parties until it hit her. “Oh! I forgot to tell you, I invited Minato. That’s alright with you guys right?”

“Mi..na...to…” The CEO heard Rin whisper as if she was trying out the name for the first time. He wondered if for the year that she had been working for him, the secretary had ever said his first name aloud. Rin turned to Ayane with wide eyes, wondering how the assistant could call the highest boss by his first name so casually, but Ayane seemed unfazed as she worked to drag a reluctant Kakashi to the elevators as well.

Giving the young secretary a kind smile, Minato gestured for her to walk first as they followed after the other two.

\---

“You men are so complicated.”

Minato paused, setting his fork down on his pasta plate before eyeing his assistant sitting across from him. “How so?”

“You both literally need to be dragged out of the building to go out and have lunch. Why are you such workaholics? Socialize a little bit,” Ayane nagged. She turned to the silver-haired salesman next to her who had been focusing on his food the entire time. “You, Kakashi! If you keep this up, you’ll never get a girlfriend!”

“That’s fine with me.” He replied nonchalantly.

Ayane groaned and turned to Minato. “Minato, tell him. With every good man is a woman behind him to kick his ass into gear.”

The CEO chuckled nervously. “I don’t think that’s how the saying goes.”

“But it’s true, where would you be without me?” Ayane winked before taking a bite of her club sandwich. 

Minato couldn’t help but flush in response to her rhetorical question and the gesture that followed. She was right, he figured. Just her presence in a mere month, had broken him out of his loneliness and self-isolating behaviour. It also kept him physically and mentally healthy now that she reminded him to eat and sleep at the right times, and took on the brunt of his work load.

“I’m serious though, Kakashi. If you don’t stop slaving over work, you’ll be a hermit for life.” Ayane continued after Minato’s lack of response. 

“You do know I’m only a year younger than you right?” Kakashi countered. “Speak for yourself. When are you getting over your ex?”

Minato’s smile dropped as he heard the conversation. Despite the chaos of Ayane pinching Kakashi in the upper arm for the rebuttal, and Rin trying to keep the two quiet, Minato could only focus on the new piece of information. 

Ayane had never talked about her private life before, save for the fact that she hated large corporate parties and her parents lived in the countryside. It shouldn’t have garnered such a large reaction from him that she had been in the relationship in the past, but for some reason, it hadn’t occurred to him before. 

There were so many questions that lingered in his mind. First of all, who was the ex and why was she single now? Why hadn’t she mentioned it to him before? And something that pained him to think: why did Kakashi know and he didn’t?

“Kakashi is a good looking man. He’ll find someone.” Rin spoke up for the first time in the conversation once everything had calmed down. Both Ayane and Mianto exchanged eye contact for a moment and gave a small chuckle. It was clear that the young secretary had a crush on their new floormate, especially with the way she was hanging around their desks more often.

Kakashi on the other hand, seemed oblivious. He only shrugged the comment off without a word, earning a light smack on the arm from Ayane. 

“Ow! Maybe if you were more docile and womanly, you would have a boyfriend!” The silver-haired man exclaimed, earning a laugh from everyone at the table.

It was clear from this conversation alone that Kakashi only responded to Ayane. In fact, for the past few weeks, Minato hadn’t seen him talk much unless it was necessary, even to greet some of the managers who would walk past him to the CEO’s office.

With a dreadful pit in his stomach, he realized Kakashi likely had a crush on Ayane. The blonde wasn’t sure though, whether or not Ayane returned the feelings, but jealousy continued to plague him as he watched her speak and act so openly around the salesman. It was completely the opposite of the way she treated Minato at work as she always continued to hold him at an arm's distance. 

Maybe it was better this way, he figured. Afterall, he had his own troubles to sort out, and he had already agreed to keep their relationship professional. Still though, as he continued to watch their interactions across from him, he couldn’t help but long to have the same connection with her as well.


	11. Chapter 11

As the final weeks passed and they began growing closer and closer to the Guang Xing sales presentation in China, Ayane found herself staying later and later at work. It was tiring, trying to fit everything into her and Minato’s busy schedules while working with Kakashi on finalizing the proposal. In fact, she rarely had a break now-a-days because she had to cram all of Minato’s upcoming meetings into any remaining vacancies so that they could clear three days for their trip to Shanghai.

“Wow, you sure are making a lot of typos these days.” Kakashi commented one day, breaking their long peaceful silence. Ayane simply replied with a sigh as she buried her head in her arms and remained tucked there so that the silver-haired man could lean over her chair and read from her screen.

“Sorry, I wrote these two pages late yesterday evening. I don’t even think I remember what I wrote,” she mumbled into her arms. 

The younger man chuckled and reached both his hands over her shoulders to click at the typos and fix them on the keyboard. At first, Ayane had been wary of the proximity the man posed, but as they continued to work together daily, for some odd reason, she had gotten used to his presence, even if his body was unusually close to hers.

“All done!” Kakashi straightened out his back and took a step back. “Anything else you need help with?”

“No, it’s fine.” Ayane replied. “You should head home now, it’s already 5:30. Sorry for keeping you late.”

“No worries, half an hour is nothing at all.” Kakashi gave Ayane a comforting pat on the shoulder knowing she had a long evening ahead of her. “Only two days left, and then it’s all over.”

“No way. That’s where it all starts. Gosh, I wish you could come to China and present for me.” Ayane groaned. The pressure of the entire sale was weighing on her more and more with each passing day. In three days, she would be in China, speaking with people higher, richer, and more acclaimed than Minato himself. Not to mention, it would mean hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars worth in sales. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for that. 

“You’ll be fine. You’re more than prepared and the presentation looks like it’s going great.” There was a notification from Kakashi’s phone, interrupting his thoughts. He grinned at the device before walking back to his desk to grab his belongings, suddenly seeming as if he was in a rush.. 

“Anyways,” he said, “goodnight Ayane! Don’t stay too late.” 

Ayane turned to the silver-haired man before eyeing the device in his hand. “You seem to be in a rush all of a sudden. Got a date?”

Choosing to ignore Ayane’s words, he quickly waved to her and turned away before she was able to read his expression. The assistant could only grin at the thought that Kakashi seemed to have changed in the past four weeks, becoming more open to those around him. 

Ayane jumped when her phone suddenly rang in the empty office. She never usually got calls after work hours, but when the caller ID read Minato Namikaze, she realized he must have been the only other person left.

Turning around in her chair, she picked up the phone and smiled at him through his glass wall. “Yes, Mr. Namikaze?” She answered with a teasing tone. Every day, Minato had been insistent on her calling him by his first name, but of course, she was in a playful and rebellious mood today.

“Ayane...did you forget we had a meeting schedule for 5:30 with Jiraiya?” Minato didn’t even bother entertaining her joke as he stared back at her.

“Oh...shit…” Immediately, she hung up her phone and glanced nervously at the time. It was 5:40 already and Ayane knew that Minato hated being tardy to meetings. She quickly grabbed her laptop and dashed into his office so she could take notes of their virtual meeting. 

The meeting was productive, albeit short because Jiraiya had been travelling throughout Asia and Europe to gather research on regional marketing techniques that would be effective in other countries. He had limited time to converse, especially with the time zone difference.

Ayane realized that despite their awkward first encounter and the fact that he was an outward pervert, Jiraiya was actually quite likeable as he was one of the only other executives other than Shikaku who treated her well. He was quite funny, cracking jokes even at the most inopportune times, and she had heard from Minato that Jiraiya had been his mentor ever since he first joined the company. 

So after a debrief on the older man’s work abroad, and planning for the marketing department, Jiraiya actually offered to take a final look at Ayane’s business proposal before their trip to China. Feeling grateful for his offer, Ayane stepped onto the screen with a wide smile and bowed to show her gratitude. Jiraiya then cracked a joke at Minato, bluntly speaking that he was so lucky he had eye candy to keep him company every day.

Ayane watched and giggled as Minato’s face turned bright red at the thought. He did little to scold Jiraiya because he knew it was true. He was fortunate enough to find someone as good looking as her. Unfortunately for him though, it was also bittersweet because it also meant she was eye candy to everyone else too: including Kakashi.

When the call came to an end, Minato turned to his assistant with a slight scowl on his face. Confused, Ayane looked at him with wide eyes. “What is it?”

“You seem more and more distracted now-a-days,” Minato blurted out in a non-characteristic fashion. This took Ayane aback because the CEO was never a confrontational man but for some reason, he seemed more on edge during the past few days.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “It must be my lack of sleep. I can’t stop thinking about the Guang Xing presentation.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Minato replied. He stood and rounded the desk so that he could lean on it as they conversed in a closer proximity. “You never used to forget appointments or be late to things. You kinda seem distracted...by someone.”

Ayane quirked an eyebrow at the man standing in front of her. At first she wondered if he meant to make a pass at her, indicating that she was distracted by himself, but he seemed more frustrated than anything. 

“Someone?” She questioned.

With a deep sigh, he stared down at his shoes, breaking the eye contact between them. “Are you and Kakashi seeing each other?”

It took a moment for Ayane to digest Minato’s words, and another moment to read his jealous expression before she suddenly burst out in a fit of laughter. The CEO looked up at her, bewildered, as she clutched her stomach in amusement.

“I’m serious!” He insisted.

When she was finally done, and had caught her breath, she stood as well, closing the distance between them. She smirked, secretly enjoying the way that the CEO stiffened at her presence. She looked him square in the eye despite her being a couple inches shorter even with her heels.

“Kakashi and I have nothing.” She assured him. Taking one of his large hands in hers, she grinned playfully. “I don’t do office romances, remember? We’re more like brother and sister.”

“Oh…” Minato wasn’t sure if his lack of words was because he had been speculating wrong for weeks, or if it was from the disappointment of her reminder about office relationships.

“Don’t worry.” She leaned up to give him a quick peck, right on the side of his lips. She relished in hearing his breath hitch upon the contact. Afterwards, she leaned forward and pressed her body against his so that her lips could reach the bottom of his ear. “If I choose to break the rule, you’ll be the first to know.”

Minato let out a frustrated groan when her seductive tone sent shivers straight down to his groin. When she finally leaned back, and had an accomplished look on her face, he had to restrain himself to not grab her and take her on his desk right then and there. 

She dropped his hand and grabbed her laptop, walking away from him. Yanking open the door, she turned briefly to wave at the man. “Well, I’ll be out here if you need me! Just going to finalize and tidy up the minutes, send them over to you, and then head home early for once.”

A soft smile appeared on Minato’s face as he looked adoringly at his hard-working assistant. She had been staying just as late as him every day for the past week, and she more than deserved to have some time off. Maybe when this was all over, he figured, he could finally treat her to something good.

“Sounds good. Don’t stress yourself out too much,” he replied.

“I won’t! You make sure you head home early too. Don’t stay at work all day.” With that, she walked back to her desk, leaving Minato in a flurry of emotions.

\---

The next day was an especially long day for the two of them. It was their last full day of work before heading out to China the next morning, and they had stayed extra late in order to finalize the presentation and complete as much document work as possible.

Minato was focused on signing a series of marketing proposals when he received a knock on the door. He called the person in, and was shocked to find Kakashi still lingering around now that it was an hour past the end of his work day.

“Hey, I didn’t know you were still here.” Minato commented while the younger male approached his desk. 

“Yeah. I was helping Ayane with the presentation. She wanted me to stay so that she could practice her speech with me.” Kakashi replied. He let out a yawn and stretched out. “I was just letting you know I’m heading out.”

“Oh…” Minato found it weird that Kakashi was checking in with him to begin with. The two rarely spoke unless it was about the Guang Xing case. It was usually Ayane that supervised him. It then hit him that in the next morning, they would be heading to China, and Kakashi’s time on their floor would be over.

“Thank you for all your help this past month. It’s been a pleasure having you here with us. Usually it’s pretty quiet up here so it’s been a good change.” Minato told the man. He stood and extended a hand to which the salesman quickly shook.

“Yeah, sure thing.” Kakashi flushed slightly at the CEO’s compliment. He had always been one to be modest about his work, so to be complimented so openly, he still had to get used to it. “Oh, and actually I came in to say that Ayane has fallen asleep at her desk, so just keep an eye out for her. I didn’t bother waking her because I felt like she needed a break.”

MInato looked out the glass wall, and for the first time he realized that indeed, his assistant was fast asleep. His eyes softened and a small smile crept involuntarily onto his face as he saw the way she was hunched over onto her desk with her head resting on the crook of her elbow. 

“I’ll look after her,” Minato reassured the man. “Thanks for letting me know.”

“Have a goodnight.” Kakashi said.

“Goodnight.”

When the silver-haired man finally left and it was just him and Ayane, Minato used his touch screen control board in the corner of his office to dim the floor’s lights except for his own room. He took his suit jacket from off the rack and walked to her desk, draping the garment over her shoulders. 

His heart quickened as he took a closer look at her. The bags under her eyes were evident, even under the makeup, but she still looked so peaceful. Her soft hair fell over parts of her face, and her long eyelashes were more evident. He yearned to kiss her on her soft, slightly parted lips, but he had promised her he wouldn’t.

With a heavy sigh, he made his way back to the office knowing that the longer he spent procrastinating, the later he would have to stay for the night. He didn’t know if he could afford another late night, especially because they had an early morning call the next day and a very important proposal to present.

Still, this didn’t stop him from checking in on the girl from time to time. It was about 7pm when she finally awoke. She walked away from her desk and disappeared for a few minutes before returning with two cups of coffee. Without knocking, she entered his office and placed both mugs on his desk. 

“I figured we could both use some caffeine,” she said without greeting. A playful smile donned on her face. “Thank you for the jacket.”

Minato noticed the way she had to roll the sleeves up to even use her hands, and how the hem reached just under her buttocks. She didn’t make a move to return it to him, but he preferred it that way. He couldn’t help but think that he enjoyed the look more on her than on himself.

“You’re welcome. Would you like to join me in here?” He offered. Afterall, his desk was large enough for the both of them to work.

Ayane looked around. “Sure, but I’ll take the couch if you don’t mind. I kinda wanna lie down.”

“Of course, whatever’s comfortable.” 

Ayane went out to grab her laptop before making herself comfy on Minato’s couch with her coffee on the table next to her. She took a quick glance at the CEO who was now refocused on the work ahead of him. Subconsciously, she pulled his jacket tighter around her body, taking comfort in the familiar scent it imparted.

It was getting late, and she was hungry, stressed, and tired, but for some reason it all felt okay. She didn’t mind going through this once in a while because he had always treated her well, making her want to work harder for him in return.

It wasn’t until almost 9pm that Ayane finally stood from her spot and stretched out her arms. Her loud yawn and groans made Minato turn to her and chuckle in adoration.

“I think I’m finally done,” she said. “I don’t think I can look at this any longer otherwise I’m going to go crazy.”

With a light laugh, Minato went to sit next to her on the couch, taking the laptop into his own hands. He began scrolling through, eyes skimming the text in detail. “Did you include the suggestions that Jiraiya gave?”

“Yeah! He was a huge help. You really can’t tell that he’s so knowledgeable based on his...his…”

“Perverted mind?” Minato finished for her, leaving the assistant with a light blush on her cheeks. That was the exact word that she had chosen, but she wasn’t quite sure it was appropriate to call her boss’s mentor a pervert.

“Yup. That’s the word!”

“Yeah, Jiraiya’s great. I wouldn’t be where I am without him.” Minato tried to sound nonchalant as he continued to read through the presentation and the report, but Ayane could tell that the marketing exec meant a lot to him.

After about another 15 minutes, Ayane had almost completely dozed off when Minato finally declared the project ready with a wide grin on his face. 

“This looks perfect for tomorrow!” He said. He couldn’t help but reach over and envelope her in a hug thanks to the amount of excitement he had. “I knew you could do it!”

“I had a lot of help.” Ayane mumbled modestly as she tried to avoid eye contact. She didn’t want Minato to see that his pride in her made her smile to the point where she couldn’t keep it in.

“Come on, let’s call it a day and go grab some dinner.” Minato said as he stood. He shut the laptop and clasped it in one hand as he held out the other for Ayane to take.

With hesitancy, Ayane stared up at the man in front of her. Despite having worked together for about two months, and oftentimes staying after work alone, the two of them had never gone out for a meal with just the two of them. Sure, Minato joined her, Rin, and Kakashi quite regularly on their lunch breaks now, but this was different. 

“Minato...that’s a bit….” She couldn’t quite get the words out because she didn’t want to ruin the puppy dog like excitement that he had, but at the same time, she didn’t want to lead him on to thinking they could be an item.

“You’re hungry aren’t you?” He seemed unfazed by her tentativeness as he continued to look at her with wide ocean blue eyes.

“No-” And of course, her stomach let out a growl loud enough to echo in the large room. This earned a giggle from Minato, and soon, herself. “Okay fine. Just a quick dinner. We need to sleep early tonight for our flight tomorrow anyways.”

“Alright! I know just the place! Let’s go!” 

As Minato moved quickly and efficiently around the room, tidying up his office and grabbing his belongings, Ayane too got up to clean up the coffee mugs and return to her desk. Once they were ready, Minato came out and automatically reached for her hand.

She knew she messed up when she instinctively entwined her fingers with his. She knew she was going against her own rules when she allowed him to lead her to the elevator, skipping her car, in favour of his. She knew she was trapping herself when she agreed to his suggestion of having him drop her home, and pick her up the next day on the way to the airport.

She knew everything she was doing could end up getting her hurt in the end, but when she went home that night after their first dinner together and staying out later than they should have, she couldn’t help but think maybe, just maybe, it would be worth it in the end.


End file.
